President E. Gordon Gee is preparing for a trip to China; he plans to bring the Ohio State nation together by building a bridge that connects a global university.
However, Gee’s two-week tour of China is not a relaxing summer trip. His “multifaceted excursion” includes connecting with OSU alumni and Ohio-based company executives, strengthening relationships with Chinese universities and promoting OSU’s international initiative through the newly opened gateway office, said William Brustein, the vice provost for global strategies and international affairs in the Office of International Affairs.
Gee will stop in four cities, Shanghai, Nanjing, Qingdao and Beijing, in 16 days. Though the Office of International Affairs is “still in the process of ironing out details,” Gee’s schedule is already packed, Brustein said. “We want the people to see how engaged OSU is in China.”
However, after breaking the agenda down, Gee’s Chinese adventure is about globally expanding the university’s three missions: learning, research and outreach, he said.
Brustein, who will accompany Gee on the trip, has been working hard to create the Global Gateway Offices in Shanghai, New Delhi and Sao Paolo to make OSU the leading international university, he said.
Since opening in February, OSU faculty members have been designing programs through the gateway offices to improve the managerial aspects of Chinese companies that are connected to OSU. Whether the CEOs are alumni or the company is Ohio-based, these businesses will have priority to the training that will help them succeed in global markets.
The gateway strategy is at the core of the renovated outlook that OSU has in terms of the world, and it emphasizes the importance of being a global citizen, Brustein said.
In all four cities, Gee will be signing what OSU is calling “Memoranda of Agreements” with officials from major universities in China, all of which rank in the top nine universities in the country.
These agreements will establish connections with the foreign institutions, Brustein said. The exchange of OSU faculty and students with those from the Chinese schools will be much more fluid, promoting a broader understanding of material that can only be reached at a global level.
Currently, 1,200 Chinese students are enrolled at OSU, and seven study abroad programs in China are offered to students through the university. There are already two OSU students at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the second-best engineering institution in the world, Brustein said.
There are 30 Memoranda of Agreements in China alone, including one with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the top research institute in China.
However, the agreements will only increase numbers, allowing students to become “globally competent” and allowing them to succeed in today’s international society, he said.
And in addition to giving his students a chance to become global citizens, Gee is being recognized for being one himself.
Gee was the only university president to be selected by the American Chamber to speak at the Distinguished Speaker Series in Shanghai. He will be discussing the importance of universities in driving 21st century business, Brustein said.
“When you’re invited to speak in the same series as people like Hillary Clinton, it is a high honor,” he said.
And Gee will be doing what he can to give back to those alumni who have continued to make the Buckeyes proud around the world.
Alumni events will be held in Beijing and Shanghai, and there will be a breakfast for company executives who are tied to the university, Brustein said.
Yet one alumnus sticks out to Brustein. Both he and Gee are very excited to meet him, he said.
Zheng Ji, a nutrition professor in Nanjing, graduated from OSU in the 1930s. Today, at 110 years old, he is still teaching, and Brustein could not be more proud to meet him in a few weeks.
Though busy, Gee’s trip to China will benefit the university at large and add value to the core principles on which it stands.
“International is not a side note,” Brustein said. “It is integrated in our missions.”
