Shandong University Holds 110th Birthday Celebration-Shandong University

A celebration was held on October 15 to mark the 110th Anniversary of the founding of Shandong University, one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in China.

Wu Bangguo, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and Premier Wen Jiabao respectively sent letters or words to congratulate the university during this anniversary celebration. In his letter, Wu called on the university to make greater contribution to China's modernization drive, according to a statement from the university.

Address by Zhu Zhengchang, SDU Party Secretary

Address by Professor Xu Xianming, SDU President and member of NPC Standing Committee

Address by Professor Li Xiaohong, President of Wuhan University, representative of SDU's Chinese sister universities

Address by Professor Henry Tzu-Yow Yang, Chancellor of CA Santa Barbara, member of the US National Academy of Engineering, representative of SDU's international sister universities

Address by Professor Samuel Chao Chung Ting, Nobel Laureate from MIT

Address by Professor Roderick Lemonde MacFarquhar from Harvard University

Address by Academician Hu Haiyan, President of Beijing Institute of

Technology, representative of SDU alumni

Address by Yuan Shishuo, tenured professor, representative of SDU faculty

Address by Dong Renhao, representative of SDU students

Address by Zhang Jianguo, Vice Party Secretary and Mayor of Jinan

Address by Wang Renyuan, member of Standing Committee of

Shandong Provincial Committee and Deputy Governor of Shandong

Province

Address by Du Yubo, Deputy Minister of Ministry of Education

Address by Professor Han Qide, Vice Chairman of NPC Standing Committee

Present at the celebration were more than 20,000 people including government and business leaders, representatives of domestic and overseas universities, internationally prestigious scholars, and representatives of alumni, teachers and students as well as people who have made major contributions to the development of Shandong University. The event took place at the university's new gymnasium, which is one of the largest among Chinese college campuses, completed just about two weeks ago.

The 110th Anniversary of SDU was marked with a variety of events and projects throughout the year. SDU invited staff, alumni, students, and representatives of domestic and overseas universities to celebrate with us during the entire year. The themes for the anniversary celebration put "culture and academia" into prominence. Many academic and cultural activities were held on campus, including an exhibition of famous artists' calligraphy and paintings celebrating Shandong University's 110th Anniversary, the opening ceremony of Hanban/Shandong University Center for Research and Experience of Traditional Chinese Culture, the performance art show of "Dream and Action-Night at Shandong University" , Shandong University and Harvard University forum on "Path of China and Image of China", University Presidents' forum on "New Function of the University: Catalyst of Culture Fusion", and an academic report of Harvard University Prof. Roderick MacFarquhar.

Shandong University, is located in Ji'nan, the provincial capital of Shandong Province in the east of China. Formerly named the Imperial Shandong University, it was founded in 1901 and was China's second national university. In the year 2000, it merged with Shandong Medical University and Shandong University of Technology.

Shandong University has 10,200 faculty and staff and over 60,000 full-time students. It is comprised of eight campuses (Jinan Central Campus, Hongjialou Campus, Baotuquan Campus, Qianfoshan Campus, Software Campus, Xionglongshan Campus, Qingdao Campus and Weihai Branch) in three different cities (Jinan, Qingdao, and Weihai). More than 400,000 students have graduated from the university, many of whom have made great contributions to China's development. Shandong University is continuously becoming more competitive on an international level, and expects to join the ranks of world-class universities by 2020.