"The Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) is a consortium of 35 leading universities from 16 economies in the Pacific Rim. Formed in 1997, it aims to foster cooperation in education, research and enterprise thereby contributing to the economic, scientific and cultural advancement in the Pacific Rim." 

 

APRU Special Presidents' Meeting in June 2003
 For the first time in APRU's history, APRU presidents will be participating in a Special Presidents' Meeting via video and audio conferencing on June 18/19, 2003. Involving more than 30 APRU universities, this special session is arranged in place of the postponed annual meeting of the presidents originally scheduled to be held in Singapore next month. At this Special Presidents' Meeting, APRU presidents will discuss the business issues, new initiatives and future directions of the association. A full report of the meeting will be made available on the APRU website at a later date.

APRU Enterprise to Promote Best Entrepreneurial Programs and Practices
 Providing a platform to advance knowledge and technology transfer, APRU Enterprise was launched to promote best entrepreneurial programs and practices. The APRU Enterprise Coordinating Group (AECG) will facilitate the development of new initiatives and coordinate activities under the APRU Enterprise umbrella. The AECG is currently chaired by National University of Singapore and comprises eleven APRU universities.

Participation in APRU Enterprise activities is open to all APRU universities. APRU members are welcome to submit proposals for new initiatives to Veronica Chew, secretary to AECG at etpchew@nus.edu.sg.


 

New Dates in August for 4th Doctoral Students Conference
The 4th Doctoral Students Conference has been rescheduled to August 24-29, 2003 at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). The UNAM organizers have been in touch with all confirmed participants on the arrangements for the August conference. For enquires, please contact Jose Martin Palma at conference@apru.unam.mx. More information can also be found at the conference website.

 

New President at Tsinghua University
Professor Gu Binglin was appointed president of Tsinghua University on April 25, 2003. He succeeded Professor Wang Dazhong who retired from his post. Professor Gu is a professor of physics and a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

New Vice Chancellor at University of Malaya
Professor Hashim Yaacob was appointed vice chancellor of University of Malaya on April 1, 2003. He takes over from Professor Anuar Zaini Md Zain. A dental surgeon by training, Professor Hashim was previously dean of faculty of dentistry and served as UM's deputy vice-chancellor of student affairs before assuming this new appointment.

 

2003 Meetings/Conferences Rescheduled
Four APRU activities have been rescheduled in view of the recent multi-country SARS outbreak. The affected activities are the Senior Staff Meeting, 4th Distance Learning and Internet Conference, the Research Workshop on Internationalization of APRU Universities and the 5th Fellows Program. The Secretariat and the organizers are now working on the new dates for these activities. More information will be announced at a later date. Please check the APRU website for any latest update.

 

Comments, suggestions and contributions to e-newsletter are welcome. Please send them to Carol Lee from APRU Secretariat at apru@apru.org.