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"The Association of Pacific
Rim Universities (APRU) is a consortium of 36 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."
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A gift
from APRU to Chilean President Ricardo Lagos
APRU leaders at the 8th Annual Presidents Meeting
21 university presidents at University of Chile |
APRU Chair Re-elected and New Steering Committee Formed at
8th Annual Presidents Meeting
Hosted by the University of Chile in Santiago, Chile from June
23 to 25, 2004, the 8th Annual Presidents Meeting was attended
by 21 presidents.
At this meeting, the APRU presidents voted unanimously to elect
National University of Singapore (NUS) President Shih Choon Fong
to another two-year term as APRU chairman. NUS Associate
President Lawrence Loh was also unanimously re-elected to a
second term as APRU secretary general.
A new steering committee was elected and will
serve a two-year term till June 2006 (see box below).
This year’s meeting included a panel discussion on higher
education in the Pacific Rim. The APRU presidents discussed
topics including the role of public and private
universities, funding pressure, student accessibility and
the impact of education reforms currently taking place in
their respective home economies. Presentations on
university best practices and new initiatives rounded off
the three day meeting.
Click
here to see the presentations.
A
highlight of the meeting saw APRU presidents in a private
meeting with the President of the Republic of Chile, His
Excellency Mr. Ricardo Lagos at the presidential palace, La
Moneda.
The 9th Annual Presidents Meeting will be hosted by the
National University of Singapore in Singapore on July 2,
2005.
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The following comprise the new
steering committee:
Chairman
Shih, Choon Foong, President,
National University of Singapore
Chairman Emeritus
Steven B. Sample,
President, University of Southern California
Members
Gavin Brown, Vice Chancellor, University
of Sydney
Henry Yang, Chancellor, University of
California, Santa Barbara
Luis Riveros, Rector,
University of Chile
Martha Piper, President,
University of British Columbia
Takeshi Sasaki,
President, University of Tokyo
Un-Chan Chung, President, Seoul National University
Xu, Zhihong, President, Peking University
Secretary General
Lawrence Loh,
Associate President, National University of
Singapore
Secretary General Emeritus
Richard
Drobnick, Vice Provost, University of Southern
California
Treasurer
Danielle Lim, Senior
Manager, APRU Secretariat |
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APRU Visits
Group of Eight
On August 11, 2004, the APRU Secretariat visited the
Group of Eight (Go8) office in Canberra. The Go8 is Australia’s premier consortium of eight leading research universities. Discussions with Go8’s chief executive, Executive Director Virginia Walsh, covered possible avenues of future collaboration between the two
organizations. |
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From American Nature Reserves to Japanese Lake: The
Environment Brings APRU Fellows Together |
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The
5th Fellows Program was held from August 15 to 28, 2004 at
the University of California, Santa Barbara and Osaka
University. 21 fellows from 17 member universities
participated in the program.
Under the theme of “Globalization and the Environment:
Multidisciplinary Perspectives”, the program explored
various important perspectives through seminar presentations
at the host universities. The fellows actively engaged in
intensive discussions with faculty members at both
universities.
Field
trips included visits to the Sedgwick Reserve and the Santa
Cruz Island Reserve in Santa Barbara and Lake Biwa in
Osaka. A US$6,000 collaborative research paper award, given
to the best submitted paper, provided an opportunity for
post-program collaboration.
Click
here to
read more on an APRU fellow's reflections on the 2004 APRU
Fellows Program.
The 6th Fellows Program will be co-hosted by the University
of British Columbia and the University of Malaya in 2005.
More details of the 2005 program will be available in due
course. Please check the APRU
website for updates. |
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APRU fellows at a field trip
in Japan |
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University of
Sydney Plays Host to Aspiring Academics in the Pacific Rim |
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Aspiring doctoral students attending a presentation |
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The
5th Doctoral Students Conference held at the University of
Sydney, from August 9 to 13, 2004 attracted some 137
participants from 23 APRU universities. This year’s theme
was “Research at Pacific Rim Universities: Economic,
Scientific and Cultural Perspectives – The Way Forward”.
A
new feature of this year’s conference was the workshop
sessions preparing aspiring doctoral students for a professional
career in academe. These sessions, conducted by academic
staff from APRU universities, were very well-received by the
doctoral students.
The University of Oregon will
host the 6th Doctoral Students Conference in 2005. More
details will be available in due course. Please check the
APRU website for updates. |
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APRU Experts Convene at Conference on Infectious
Diseases at Fudan University
A research symposium on
“Infectious Diseases and the
Society” was held from July 7 to 9, 2004 at Fudan University
in Shanghai. During this conference, 51 participants
presented and discussed issues relating to infectious
diseases and public health.
The timeliness of this
conference addressed the emergence of pandemic threats in
recent years such as AIDS and SARS. |
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AAU & APRU Presidents to Convene at Roundtable in Singapore in
2005
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A
Presidents Roundtable jointly held by APRU and the prestigious
Association of American Universities will take place at the
National University of Singapore from June 30 to July 1, 2005.
This landmark event will be held in conjunction with the 9th
Annual Presidents Meeting.
With some 80 to 100 presidents and delegates expected to
attend, the AAU-APRU Presidents Roundtable will enable university leaders
from both associations to exchange ideas and views on global
developments in higher education as well as discuss issues of
geo-strategic importance. In particular, the meeting will focus
on the theme of globalization.
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Leading Experts in Distance Learning Gather at Tsinghua
University
The
5th Distance Learning and the Internet Conference, a major
APRUNet activity, will be hosted by Tsinghua University in
Beijing, China from October 11 to 13, 2004. The theme of the
conference this year is “Distance Learning – Benefiting All”.
This conference will see leading experts from academia, business
and government from Pacific Rim area gathering to exchange
knowledge and views on distance learning. More information can
be found at the conference website.
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University of Auckland to Host 2nd Senior Staff Meeting
The 2nd Senior Staff Meeting will be hosted by the University of
Auckland in New Zealand from March 21 to 23, 2005. The secretariat
is currently working closely with the university to confirm the
participation and program of this meeting. The working groups on
Thematic Conferences and Student Mobility will be presenting
their recommendations at this meeting.
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New Chancellor at University of California, Berkeley
Professor
Robert Birgeneau, 62, assumed the chancellorship of UC Berkeley on September 22, 2004.
He succeeded Professor Robert Berdahl who had served as
chancellor of UC Berkeley for seven years. Professor Berdahl will join the Berkeley faculty
after a year-long sabbatical.
Professor
Birgeneau is a world-renowned physicist who has won numerous
teaching and research awards in the field of electrical
conductivity. Since July 2000, he has been president at the University of Toronto. Prior to
that, he spent 25 years as the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology's Dean of Science.
New Chancellor at University of California, San Diego
A nationally-known physical organic chemist and academic leader,
Professor Marye Anne Fox, 56, assumed chancellorship of UC San
Diego on August 16, 2004. She succeeded Professor Robert Dynes who assumed the presidency of
University of California since October 2003.
Previously, Professor Fox served as chancellor of North Carolina
State University since 1998. Prior to that, she was
vice-president for research at the University of Texas at
Austin.
New President at University of Washington
Professor
Mark Emmert returned to his alma mater as president of University
of Washington on June 14, 2004.
Professor
Emmert was chancellor of Louisiana State University since April
1999. Previously, he was chancellor and provost at the University of
Connecticut. Before that he served as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at
Montana State University. Earlier he had held faculty and
administrative positions at the University of Colorado.
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Click
here
to see APRU calendar of events for 2004/2005. |
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National University of Singapore: Technology
Commercialization and Investment Forum 2004
The
National University of Singapore is organizing a Technology
Commercialization and Investment Forum (TCIF) 2004 from October
13 to 14 2004. This forum will provide valuable insights to
institutions who wish to extract value more effectively from the
numerous technology innovations and inventions developed in the
course of their research activities. Details of the program are
available here.
APRU members will enjoy a special discounted registration
package of S$450 for the 2-day forum (normal S$650).
Registration forms, online booking and further information are
all available on the
TCIF 2004 website. For further enquiries, please contact
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University of Indonesia: International Symposium of the
Journal "Antropologi Indonesia"
The Department of Anthropology-Faculty of Social and Political
of the University of Indonesia and Indonesian Journal of
Cultural and Social Anthropology will be holding the 4th
International Symposium of the Journal “Antropologi Indonesia”
from July 12 to 15, 2005 at the University of Indonesia.
Call for papers is now open with the title “Indonesia in the
Changing Global Context: Building Cooperation and Partnership?”
Interested parties are invited to select one of the themes
available for each panel and to submit your abstracts by
December 15, 2004. Further information is available
here. For further enquiries,
please contact Raymond Michael Menot from the Organizing
Committee at
or
.
University of Auckland: Asian Health Conference
The University of Auckland's Faculty of Medical and Health
Sciences will be hosting its Inaugural International Asian
Health Conference from November 4 to 5, 2004. Organized by the
Faculty's Centre of Asian Health Research & Evaluation (CARE) at
the School of Population Health (Tamaki campus), the conference
aims to provide an opportunity to exchange and strengthen the
knowledge base in Asian health issues for practitioners,
researchers, policy makers and funders in government and private
sectors worldwide.
Registration forms and further information are available
here |
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Comments, suggestions and contributions to APRU's e-newsletter are welcome.
Please send them to the APRU Secretariat at apru@apru.org.
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