DAYTON, Ohio, Aug. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- One of America's leading research universities is opening a stand-alone center in Suzhou Industrial Park.
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The University of Dayton is establishing a presence in China with the Aug. 8 grand opening of the University of Dayton China Institute in one of the fastest-growing innovation parks in the world.
Suzhou Industrial Park officials invited the University of Dayton to open an institute in the ultra-modern park and then renovated a five-story, 68,000-square-foot building for classrooms, laboratories and project space. SIP officials want University of Dayton students to do applied research and product development for industries in the park, which is home to a third of the world's Fortune 500 companies. They're also interested in education and training.
The University of Dayton is among the first American universities to set up operations in Suzhou Industrial Park about 75 miles from Shanghai. Located in Jiangsu Province in eastern China, the park is a cooperative venture between the governments of China and Singapore.
Weiping Wang, a Chinese scholar with educational experience on multiple continents, has been appointed executive director of the University of Dayton China Institute.
"Students need a greater understanding of China to succeed in the global economy," said Joseph Saliba, University of Dayton provost. "The University of Dayton China Institute will help prepare a new generation of students to be leaders in a world without traditional boundaries. They will be skilled at bringing diverse perspectives to problems and will be comfortable in adapting rapidly to change."
Over the last decade, the University of Dayton has established partnerships with a number of Chinese universities, including Nanjing University, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing University of the Arts, Shanghai Normal University, Zhejiang University and Jiangsu Educational Program.
The China Institute is another step toward the University of Dayton's globalization. Last fall, one in every 10 students came from outside the United States, enriching the campus's global perspective.
The University of Dayton is the largest private university in Ohio and ranks as a top-tier research university. It was founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary (Marianists), a Roman Catholic teaching order.
For more information about the University of Dayton China Institute, see http://www.udayton.edu/udci.
