Thursday, May 28, 2015

HNC Students Visit Guodian Power Plant

We've mentioned before that HNC students often have the opportunity to supplement what they learn in class with real-world experiences.  Last week, ERE students and faculty visited a power plant operated by Guodian (国电), one of China's largest power producers.  While on the tour, Guodian engineers showed students their pollution control units and operations, allowing students to see exactly the types of technology they had learned about in class.  Check out pictures from the visit below!

HNC students ready for their tour!




Tuesday, May 26, 2015

HNC Admissions Office Closed May 27-29

The HNC Office of International Admissions in Washington, DC will be closed to visitors from May 27-29.  In addition, any email messages sent during that time will be returned the week of June 1.  We apologize for any inconvenience!


Friday, May 22, 2015

HNC Certificate/SAIS MA Students Graduate in DC!

Yesterday marked SAIS commencement in Washington, D.C. We were happy to be able to catch a few of the HNC Certificate/SAIS MA graduates among the 450 SAIS students walking in the ceremony. Check out some pictures from the day below:

HNC Certificate/SAIS MA graduate Kwang

HNC Certificate/SAIS MA graduate Sam

Graduates gather at DAR Constitution Hall

SAIS faculty enter DAR Constitution Hall

HNC Certificate/SAIS MA graduate Margaux

HNC Certificate/SAIS MA graduate Will

Congrats to the graduates!

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Snapshot of the HNC Class of 2015-2016

As the Hopkins-Nanjing Center prepares to welcome its newest class this fall, we wanted to share a profile of the 82 international students who will be attending in 2015-2016.  Please note that while the HNC student body consists of both Chinese and international students, the information below represents the American and other non-U.S. citizens admitted through our Washington-based admissions office. 

Countries Represented:
HNC students are an international group! During the 2015-2016 academic year at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center, there will be students representing Canada, Finland, Ireland, Israel, Jamaica, Panama, Peru, Russia, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In addition to these international students, about half of the student body are citizens of China.

U.S. States Represented:
Our American students also come from a variety of different locations. In 2015-2016, they will represent 30 states, based on their permanent addresses. 

Program Enrollment:
The following chart represents international student enrollment in our three graduate program offerings: the HNC Certificate, the HNC MAIS, and the HNC Certificate/SAIS MA programs.

Chinese Proficiency:
All international students are required to demonstrate Chinese proficiency by taking the STAMP test in order to be admitted to the Hopkins-Nanjing Center. This exam tests their reading and listening comprehension to ensure that they are adequately prepared to pursue graduate coursework in Chinese. As the chart below demonstrates, our students already possess strong language skills, but their studies at the HNC will help raise their language to even higher levels of professional proficiency.


 Welcome to the newest class of HNC students!

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Alumni Insights at HNC’s Career Day


For today's Throwback Thursday post, Madelyn Ross, the director of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center Washington Office, shares insights gained at the HNC's annual Career Day in Shanghai:

The strength of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center’s alumni network was clearly demonstrated at Career Day 2015, held Friday March 20 in Shanghai. Almost half of the more than 40 panelists were alumni of the Hopkins Nanjing Center! HNC students met practitioners in many different professions--panels focused on Business; Consulting; Education; Energy and the Environment; Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Financial Services; Government; Law and Legal Services; Non-Profits; and Public Relations and Media.

All three of the professionals on the Business Panel
Madelyn Ross moderates Business Panel at HNC Career Day
were Hopkins Nanjing Center
graduates--Bryan Withall (HNC ’04), Managing Director of Sino-Outbound; Sharon Tang (HNC ’95), Regional Community Director of Hershey’s; and Andrew Clayton (HNC ’92), Managing Director of Scotsman Ice Systems. One point they all agreed on: it’s ok if you don’t know exactly what you want to do when you finish your studies. Be open-minded, they advised, and look for a chance to gain skills and experience that interest you. Bryan Withall noted that he worked for several non-profits in China before moving to the private sector and finding his current niche in the China outbound investment sector, while Andrew Clayton was an attorney before applying his business skills to companies with operations in China. Sharon Tang worked for several companies headquartered in Toronto, Amsterdam, and Beijing before taking up her current position at Hershey’s in Shanghai. One student asked about their memories of HNC, and all 3 panelists agreed that fellow HNC students were at the heart of their best memories and in many cases are still among their close friends. Take time to have fun and appreciate the unique HNC experience while you’re there, advised Sharon Tang.


Sponsored by Deloitte Consulting, Career Day ended with an evening reception for all participants, followed by smaller HNC alumni/student gatherings around Shanghai.

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

HNC Students Visit Solar Impulse in Nanjing

HNC students often have the opportunity to take advantage of our location in Nanjing to supplement what they learn in the classroom with real-world experiences. This was the case last Friday when Energy, Resources, and Environment (ERE) students visited the solar energy installation at Nanjing Lukou International Airport. While there, they were able to see Solar Impulse, a fuel-free aircraft that relies on solar power. Solar Impulse has been in Nanjing since April 21 as part of its round-the-world journey. It will be departing Nanjing as early as this week, weather permitting, for a five-day journey to Hawaii. For more information on Solar Impulse's flight to Nanjing, click here, and check out this picture of HNC faculty and students below!
HNC faculty and students at the solar energy installation at Nanjing Lukou International Airport

Thursday, May 7, 2015

HNC '09 Alumni Reunite for Classmate's Wedding

Last month, HNC alumni from the class of 2009 came together for an unofficial reunion at their classmate's wedding in Rockville, Maryland. Although only a Metro ride away from DC for some alums, others traveled from as far away as Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam, California, Kentucky, and Indiana to celebrate this special day.  Katie Brooks, Assistant Director of the HNC's Washington Office and an HNC '09 alum, was in attendance.  "It's hard to believe we all met in Nanjing almost seven years ago in the fall of 2008!" she said. "The HNC is such a tight-knit community of students, and that has definitely extended to my time as an alumna. It was great seeing so many of my classmates, especially those who live outside of DC."

The HNC has over 2,500 alumni all over the world, and looks forward to welcoming the newest group of students to its community this fall.




Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Insights from the 2015 Beijing Career Trek

Last week during HNC's spring break, HNC Career Counselor Robbie Shields led a group of students to Beijing to visit employers in a variety of fields. Read on for his update of the career trek, as well as insights provided by HNC alumni. For more information on the career services offered at the HNC, click here.



HNC students visit Baidu
During spring break, 20 HNC students joined me on the annual Beijing Career Trek. The Beijing Career Trek is one of many career-focused trips that SAIS offers to get students into the workplace to hear insights from practitioners with various organizations. While each organization and team member offered differing perspectives, one thing they all agreed on is the value that HNC graduates bring to achieving their organizational mission.

The first meeting of the trek was with the China Representative of the Ford Foundation, Ms. Elizabeth Knup. Ms. Knup’s career in China has spanned three different decades in multiple sectors, working at Kamsky Associates, Pearson Publishing, and as the American Co-Director at the HNC. She shared many thoughts about Ford’s role in China and about things students should be thinking about when navigating their career path. One of the most memorable stories she offered was her reflections on being the Co-Director during the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in 1999. While tensions were initially very high, the HNC students came together and worked through differences to change the mood from “you and us” to a shared community of understanding. It is precisely this form of understanding, Ms. Knup noted, that is essential to working to find solutions to the challenges that face Sino-US engagements in business, government, and non-profit endeavors.

Day two began with a trip to visit HNC alumna Saga McFarland (’14) and the team at APCO Worldwide. APCO is a consulting firm whose unique service helps numerous client organizations communicate their message to stakeholders and conduct business globally. APCO has three pillars in their Beijing office: government relations, corporate communications, and business advisory. Saga noted that one of the things she valued in working at APCO was that at an entry level position you’re given significant responsibility and work very closely with your supervisor on executing projects. Whereas some organizations will only give you minimal responsibility as a new hire, APCO trusts all of its staff to do client quality work from the outset.

After leaving APCO we trekked out to Haidian where we visited Huawei’s Beijing headquarters. Walking into Huawei’s facility was like taking a glimpse into the future. Among the many technological innovations introduced to us was a television that allowed you to freeze the image and highlight the fashion apparel worn by the people on the screen. Once highlighted, it would show you the name of the company that manufactured the item and how much the retail cost was on various providers, such as and Amazon (who was also a stop on the trek).

On Wednesday night, we were hosted by many Beijing-based alumni at 101 Coffee at the SOHO complex near Guomao. We were particularly lucky to be here as 101 is partially owned by an HNC alumnus, Mr. Leon Fan (HNC ’02). In total, nearly 60 alumni came to share their experiences with students and welcome them to Beijing. We had alumni from as far back as 1988 and as recent as 2014.

Our last day featured a visit with Beijing legend Kaiser Kuo, the Director of International Communications for Baidu, co-host of the popular China affairs podcast ‘Sinica’ and former singer of the rock band Tang Dynasty. While not an alumnus of the HNC, Mr. Kuo is very familiar with HNC graduates, having worked with many of our alumni in previous endeavors. When asked to give career advice to students, Kaiser stressed that the Chinese-US relationship is the most important relationship in the world and that this relationship needs people that can serve as bridges. As students at the HNC, you are positioned to serve as a bridge and help foster mutual understanding in various capacities between these two nations.

If you are an incoming HNC student, you’ll learn more about the treks when you arrive on campus. These and many other career initiatives are part of the unique experiences that our students enjoy as a part of such a distinguished institution with (nearly) 30 years of history in China.