On December 2, 2015, Meric Gertler, President of the University of Toronto (UT) and his colleagues paid a visit to Peking University (PKU). They were warmly welcomed by President Lin Jianhua in the Administrative Building.
The meeting started with President Gertler’s congratulation to President Lin on his return to PKU. President Lin thanked President Gertler for his kind words, and then he gave an overview of PKU’s academic achievements, administrative system, and its ongoing international collaborations. Furthermore, Lin addressed the challenges that Peking University is currently facing. President Gertler said that PKU and UT share a similar school system where the dean of each faculty takes a strong lead. The new budget model adapted six years ago at the University of Toronto gave financial power to the deans, allowing them to have the initiative and follow a rather entrepreneurial style. This model is widely studied in Canada for it proves to be successful in providing incentives for innovation.
The two principals then moved on to exchanging their experiences in running a large and prestigious university. UT is well known for its combination of two characteristics: being one of the leading institutions in the world and at the same time it is an immense university hosting more than 85,000 students on its three campus. President Lin expressed his admiration for such uniqueness and believed that PKU could learn a lot from its management strategies.
President Gertler next introduced UT’s plan for internationalization. He mentioned that the first step would involve attracting more foreign students to study in Toronto. Step two would be to make further development in international recruitment. Step three involves the promotion and encouragement of more Canadian students to seek international experience. The University of Toronto perceives PKU as one of its closest partners in China and President Gertler invited President Lin to visit Toronto next year. In addition, President Gertler expressed his intention to make good use of its global alumni resources.
Professor Lin gave plaudits to UT’s plan. He went on to discussing the Chinese government’s project for building world-class universities in China. As President Gertler mentioned before, both universities had established friendly relations with the University College of London (UCL). Thus an agreement could be achieved to establish a three-way cooperation between PKU, UT, and UCL in the near future.
President Gertler also expressed great interest in the Yenching Academy and inquired President Lin about its development. President Lin responded that the first semester of the Yenching Academy had proved to be very successful and students at the academy found their campus life exciting. However, there was still room for adjustments and improvement. Considering the formal invitation given be President Lin for the participation of UT on this matter, President Gertler said that UT would be delighted to be a member of the Academy’s partnership program.
Urban development and medicine were the other two areas discussed in the meeting, where the two universities could increase collaboration. UT is affiliated with nine research hospitals, while PKU has advanced life science programs. It is believed that with the strengths that both universities hold in these two areas, professors from both sides could communicate and develop together.
At the end of the meeting, President Gertler and President Lin exchanged gifts. The present from Toronto is a Toronto-designed and made-in-China light bulb which can run for 27 years. UT’s Vice President Judith Wolfson; Chief of General Office Nadina Jamison; PKU’s Vice President Li Yansong; and PKU’s Director for the Office of International Relations Xia Hongwei were also present at the meeting.
Written by: Ge Nan & Zhao Zhujun
Edited by: Liu Xiaoxuan
