The Sino-British College (SBC), a joint venture between the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology (USST) and nine UK universities, all members of the Northern Consortium UK (NCUK), celebrated its 10th anniversary on Saturday 3 September as part of the 110th anniversary celebrations of USST.
Rt Hon Sir Brian Leveson, President of the Queen’s Bench Division and Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), and Lady Lynne Leveson were invited to attend the celebration as special guests. Other distinguished guests included Honorary Professor Matthew Knowles, Consul (Culture and Education), Area Director East China, Cultural and Education Section of the British Consulate-General; Ms Ge Jingyi, Programme Leader of International Affairs Office on behalf of Professor Ding Xiaodong, Deputy Director of Shanghai Education Commission;Ms Kong Ying, Deputy Party Secretary of Tianping Community, Xuhui District, Shanghai; Honorary Professor Neil McLean CBE, Chair of NCUK’s Board of Directors; Ken Gill, Chief Executive of NCUK, Professor Ian Gow OBE, Founding Principal and CEO of SBC, and Mrs Katy Gow.
Senior colleagues representing USST included Professor Wu Song, Party Secretary, Professor Hu Shougen, President, Professor Tian Weifeng and Professor Sun Yuedong, Vice-Presidents.
On behalf of the British partner universities, representatives attending the event included Professor Shirley Congdon, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), University of Bradford; Andrew Mandebura, Director of International Development, University of Huddersfield; Jacqui Brown, Head of International Office, University of Leeds; Liu Xingfei, Business Development Manager, Leeds Beckett University; Professor Nigel Weatherill, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive and Dr Barbara Weatherill, Dr Edward Harcourt, Pro Vice-Chancellor (External Engagement), and Dr Julia Yi Wang, Regional Manager, LJMU; Professor Phil Wheater, Dean of the Faculty of Science and Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University; Nancy Cooke, Associate Director International Recruitment, and Edward Chan, Regional Manager, Directorate of Marketing and Student Recruitment, University of Salford; Professor Shearer West, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, The University of Sheffield, and Professor Roger Eccleston, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Sheffield Hallam University. Colleagues from UK university China offices were also invited to join the celebration.
In addition, the event was attended by distinguished guests from high schools, international schools and SBC’s corporate partners, including Phil Roebuck, Executive Director of the British Chamber of Commerce Shanghai.
Professor John Wilson, Principal and CEO of SBC and partner Li Xiang; Professor Liu Qin, Vice-Dean of SBC, and Dr Liu Bin, Secretary of Joint General Party Branch, Fuxing Campus, and Deputy Director of Campus Management Committee, USST, attended the celebration together with over 100 staff, students and alumni of SBC, sharing the joy of success jointly achieved by everyone at SBC over the past ten years with the full support of all partners in the UK and China.
Held on the USST main campus, the celebratory event was hosted by Vice-President Tian Weifeng who announced the beginning of the celebration with the warmest of welcomes to all guests.
As a special guest for the occasion, Sir Brian Leveson spoke in his capacity as Chancellor of LJMU and said that in its first ten years SBC has achieved great success with support from governments and partners in China and the UK. Looking to the future, he said: “It is our challenge and our opportunity to be open and to engage with one another and perhaps to demonstrate to the world that higher education can lead the way to a harmonious, less divided and more optimistic future.”
On behalf of Shanghai Education Commission, Ms Ge Jingyi extended congratulations to USST, SBC and all UK partner universities for the success achieved in the past ten years.
Following a review of the major academic and social achievements made by SBC, Principal John Wilson shared the plan for the future development of the College. It is believed that, built on the success of the first ten years, and with continued support from Chinese and UK partners, SBC will be able to achieve the goals and fulfil the aspirations as outlined in its Vision 2025. Professor Wilson said: “This is a hugely exciting time to be in China, to be in Shanghai. We believe our ambitions should match the times, and we believe Vision 2025 does so.”
To acknowledge their support and commitment, University Partner Awards were presented by Party Secretary Wu to all the nine UK partner universities at the celebration. In addition, a Special Contribution Award was presented to NCUK for its significant role in the establishment and development of SBC.
Honorary Professor Neil McLean CBE, Chair of NCUK’s Board of Directors, offered congratulations to USST and SBC on the special day. As a member of SBC’s newly-established International Advisory Group (IAG), Neil said: “This Group will provide advice and thought leadership for the College Executive in its drive for high quality development and growth.” At the end of the speech, a video of congratulatory messages from senior colleagues in the UK partner universities was shown.
A key supporter of SBC has been the British Council and Honorary Professor Matthew Knowles said in his speech: “The SBC model is defined, for me, not only by that sense of extraordinary potential but also a strength that is grounded in diversity…strength to cast an ambitious vision and to realise it. I believe such strength can be demonstrated by the powerful combination of USST, nine UK universities and SBC, supported by its network of which the British Council is proud to be part.”
Zack Zhang, dual-degree graduate of 2012 in Engineering was invited to speak on behalf of the alumni community. Currently working as a Mechanical Engineer at Shanghai-electric Wind Power Group, Zack said that SBC helped him learn from “failure”, chase his dream with “persistence” and live and work with “uniqueness”.
The closing speech was given by Professor Hu Shougen, President of USST and Chair of the SBC Management Council. President Hu extended thanks to all guests, staff and students of SBC for joining the event and hoped that, with joint efforts, SBC will achieve even greater success in the next ten years.
At the end of the celebration, representatives of staff and students of SBC were invited onto the stage, sharing the 10years birthday cake and lighting the candles in anticipation of an even brighter future for SBC.
