NC State in China Journal
June 2 - Chancellor James L. Oblinger
On Saturday morning, Dean Dan Solomon and NC State meteorologist Lian Xie met with staff of the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau (SMB) in connection with a memorandum of understanding between our two institutions signed in Raleigh last fall. In addition to overseeing weather forecasting for the entire eastern region of China, SMB operates a string of research centers including the Shanghai Typhoon Institute. The MOU focuses on complementary expertise in marine meteorology with special emphasis on protection of Shanghai’s deep-sea harbor. An SMB staff member is currently at NC State as a visiting scholar under the terms of the MOU. Saturday’s technical discussions focused on the oceanographic and meteorological observing systems as well as computational hardware, software and expertise that are required for the proposed research. Dr. Xie will remain in Shanghai for a few days to work on joint grant proposals.
It was a delight to meet with about 20 NC State alumni in Shanghai on Saturday evening. They asked many questions about NC State today, how the construction is progressing on Centennial Campus, updates on faculty they know, or how we’re predicted to do in our next season of Wolfpack athletics. Neither Sidney Lowe nor Tom O’Brien were unknown names to them. There were many delightful stories about their experiences at NC State. The pride in their affiliation with NC State was obvious. And a term used often is that they feel like they are part of a family¾the NC State family.
Our most senior graduate (1974) at the evening was Jim Arnold, a statistics undergraduate at NC State. Jim has been involved in the auto parts industry for a number of years and is now retired, living in Shangai with his wife Agnes and their 4-year old son. The newest alumni at the evening graduated in 2005 are Dr. Talo Liu (Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering) and Mr. Henry Sun in Textiles. There was no question of Henry’s Wolfpack pride. The Wolfpack t-shirt, cap and spirit made us feel like we were back on campus. After working in Cincinnati for a few years he recently returned to China to join the family business.
We discovered that a group of Chinese alumni who had graduated from Textiles and Wood and Paper Sciences have consistently kept in touch. Some had flown in from Hong Kong just to be at the gathering. This group had gone to school together in the 1980’s and developed close ties. We learned that one had taught our vice provost, Bailian Li, how to drive a car. Many stories were shared as the group rediscovered others they had lost track of over the years.
Graduates of the Pulp and Paper program were present, including Daniel Wang, technical manager for MeadWestvaco. As we were proud to point out to the group, MeadWestvaco is one of Centennial Campus’s newest residents, further strengthening the ties between NC State, the Research Triangle and China.
Chemical Engineering was another major represented among the alumni we met. Tao Liu is the lead process development engineer with Bayer Technology Services. Dr. Dehai Chen is an industry technical consultant working for Nalco. But as with many of the disciplines, some graduates had also gravitated to the academic world. Professor Cao Gui-Ping, who spent 6 months at NC State as a visiting scholar, is a professor of Chemical Engineering at East China University of Science and Technology.
The memories of some of our Chinese alumni are impressive. Lu Changsheng (Lewis), who works for Glen Raven Asia, amazed all of us with his recollection of the 1983 championship team roster. The RTP group was as impressed as we were with his memory and enthusiasm. He also was quite an organizer when it came time to take photographs. Lewis’ wife had joined him in Raleigh for a year during his studies, and studied at Wake Tech.
As an illustration of the excitement of having NC State alumni brought together, Yue Dai, an associate professor in the Department of Management Science at Fudan University volunteered to coordinate an alumni chapter in Shanghai. The offer drew a spontaneous round of applause from the group. There is no question that Yue Dai is a proud alumnus; the second line on her business card reads, Ph.d., North Carolina State University, Industrial Engineering. Everyone we met indicated they knew of other NC State alumni and would help us gather email addresses and current information about them, so the Shanghai chapter is likely to grow quickly.
RTP is well known in China, so we were pleased that our colleagues from RTP joined us for the evening. They were impressed by the turnout and appreciation the alumni had for NC State as well as the close relationship between the university and business. As one member of the RTP delegation observed, it is obvious that the warm feelings toward NC State were coming from the heart. There is no question of NC State’s pride in its alumni. We hope to see our alumni again soon on campus. And, hope to meet more NC State alumni on the next trip to China.
Chancellor Oblinger meeting with Hua Li (left, General Manager) and Lewis Lu (EHS Manager) of Glen Raven Asia, both graduates of Textile
Chancellor Meeting with James Arnold (left, 1974 graduate of Statistics)
NCSU Delegation meeting with 20 NCSU Alumni in Shanghai