“Through 30 years of ups and downs in the relationship between China and the United States, the HNC has overcome its own challenges and thrived. It has done so because at its core is a simple, and vital, mission – to help Americans learn about the real China and Chinese to learn about the real United States.”
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Former U.S Secretary of State Madeleine Albright speaking at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center’s 30th Anniversary Convocation, June 2016
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| Keynote speakers, former Chinese Minister of Commerce Chen Deming and former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright |
More than 200 Chinese and international alumni of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center returned to Nanjing June 17 to June 19 to help celebrate the 30th anniversary of the HNC, joined by the leaders of Johns Hopkins University and Nanjing University, distinguished guests, and several hundred students, friends, and supporters. The centerpiece of the weekend was the 30th Anniversary Convocation, featuring former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Chinese Minister of Commerce Chen Deming, an HNC alum himself who is currently the President of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits. In their keynote speeches, Albright and Chen included personal perspectives on the astonishingly rapid growth of US-China relations in the past 30 years and spoke to the key role that HNC graduates continue to play in all aspects of these relations. Minister Chen remarked that his “unforgettable experiences [at the HNC] not only broadened my horizons, but also helped me open my mind and develop a deep understanding of market economy.” Secretary Albright reviewed many of the US-China challenges she addressed as Secretary of State and noted that “There is no magic formula for avoiding such difficulties, but the one thing that helps is the sort of deeper mutual understanding and personal relationships such as those forged here at the HNC.”
The 30th anniversary weekend opened with a concert by the Nanjing University Folk Music Orchestra, and included the HNC graduation ceremony and dinner, a Forum on Sino-Global Relations, the Convocation, and a Gala Dinner. HNC alumni Amy Celico (HNC ’94), currently a principal of the Albright Stonebridge Group, and Huang Haifeng (HNC ’92), professor of International Relations at Peking University, were featured speakers at the Forum. HNC students and alumni were also treated to a private session with Secretary Albright on the making of US foreign policy, and to a breakfast with the current and former Chinese and American co-directors. Throughout the weekend, the HNC was recognized for its history, its unique bilingual graduate education program, and for training a cadre of specialists who understand international relations and have gone on to play important roles in managing US-China relations.
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| The HNC’s alumni network has grown from 60 graduates in 1986 to almost 3,000 alumni now |
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| Former Chinese and American Co-Directors meet with HNC alumni. From left: Chen Yongxiang, William Rope, He Chengzhou, Cornelius C. Kubler, Elizabeth Knup, Richard Gaulton and Huang Chengfeng | |
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| Guests outside the Convocation hall | | | | | | |
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| Alumni from all HNC years reconnect at the gala dinner |
Read more about the HNC 30th anniversary and history in the
Johns Hopkins Hub.
See more event photos on flickr.
Photos courtesy of Carl McLarty
