On the morning of April 26, 2014, Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management (SEM) held its 30th anniversary celebration ceremony at the sports complex.
Former Chinese vice premier and member of the politburo ZHU Rongji, who is also Tsinghua SEM’s founding dean and honorary chairman of the school’s advisory board, sent a letter to congratulate the event. Together with 4000 Tsinghua SEM students, alumni, and staff members, Tsinghua University President CHEN Jining, Vice President XIE Weihe, Deputy Party Secretary SHI Zongkai, Dean of MIT Sloan School of Management David Schmittlein, and Managing Director of McKinsey & Company Dominic Barton joined in the celebration of the 30th birthday of SEM. The event was hosted by professor YANG Bin.
President CHEN Jining opened the ceremony by reading a letter from Founding Dean ZHU Rongji. ZHU congratulated SEM on its achievements in the past 30 years and hoped that Tsinghua SEM staff and students would take the 30th anniversary as a new starting point, continue with innovation and reform, and strive to build a top-tier schoolmanagement school in the world.
President of Tsinghua University CHEN Jining
As the founding dean of SEM, ZHU Rongji said to the students: “I’m glad to see that you are extending your vision globally while paying close attention to the impoverished areas in China. Only when we combine the most advanced theories in the world with the reality in China, we can become the best talents in management. ”
At the end of the letter, ZHU Ringji expressed with passion: “as a Tsinghua person, my heart will always be with all of you!
After reading the letter, President CHEN Jining showed gratitude towards Founding Dean ZHU Rongji’s high expectation and the effort he has made in the building and development of Tsinghua SEM. ZHU’s letter expressed his love and devotion to the school, which will encourage all Tsinghua staff and students to strive for excellence and perfection.
Professor YANG Bin hosting the event
MIT Sloan School of Management has been one of the closest global partners of SEM. The head of the school David Schmittlein said in his speech: “the accomplishments of Tsinghua SEM during three decades have been extraordinarily impressive; even astounding.” Mr. Schmittlein also praised the collaboration between the two schools in faculty training, international MBA courses and lab building. In the future, he would also anticipate a closer and long-lasting partnership between MIT Sloan School and Tsinghua SEM, as this will eventually benefit China economically while improving the ties between China and the United States.
Dean of MIT Sloan School of Management David Schmittlein
Tsinghua SEM Advisory Board member, Global Managing Director of McKinsey and Company Dominic Barton analyzed the five factors that contributed to Tsinghua SEM’s success: “first, you have taken it upon yourselves to learn from the best, emulating best practices from leading business schools worldwide. Second, you have been proactive in anticipating trends in China’s economic development and adjusting your programs to better fit that context, for example by establishing a network of research centers in entrepreneurship, healthcare management, retail and other areas. Third, you have recognized untapped opportunities early – leapfrog opportunities – for instance in the EMBA space, and innovated to meet that demand. Fourth, you have successfully balanced the interests of government, while adapting to the needs of the private sector through incremental reform. Finally, Tsinghua’s ‘can-do attitude’ has ensured excellence in executing against your goals.” At the end of his speech, Mr. Barton also encouraged Tsinghua SEM to seize the unique opportunity in the field of financial and management education, to build a truly distinctive global institution.
Tsinghua SEM Advisory Board member, Global Managing Director of McKinsey and Co. Dominic Barton
Tsinghua SEM Dean Qian Yingyi gave a speech that introduced the four series of activities of the 30th anniversary celebration. He also expressed his gratitude towards all current staff members, advisory board members, retired leaders, faculty members, staff members from other sectors of the university, and others who have contributed to the development in the school’s history. Mr. Qian also reviewed Founding Dean ZHU Rongji’s guidance in the past three decades.
Tsinghua SEM Dean QIAN Yingyi
Dean QIAN Yingyi concluded SEM’s three key development principals: first, educating talents to meet the needs of Opening and Reform is always the priority of the school; second, build a top of the line economics and management school based on international standards; third, continue with educational reform and innovation in order to keep abreast with modern educational philosophy. In the future, Tsinghua SEM will seize the opportunity and contribute to the advancement of China’s economy and education reform.
Following Dean QIAN’s speech, faculty representative XIAO Xing, alumni representative PAN Fuxiang, YIN Yong, WANG Jiwu, GUO Ningning, LIU Xun and current student representative HUANG Chen also spoke at the event, elaborating on their experience working or studying at SEM, and how much the school has influenced their lives.
Alumni representatives
Current staff and student representatives
As part of the celebration ceremony, President CHEN Jining, Dean QIAN Yingyi, together with former Tsinghua SEM deans ZHAO Chunjun and HE Jiankun, unveiled the placard of Tsinghua SEM Alumni Association.
The founding of Tsinghua SEM Alumni Association
(Left to right: He Jiankun, Qian Yingyi, Chen Jining, Zhao Chunjun)
The unveiling ceremony was followed by a special “Tribute to the Teachers” section. As the short film Founding Dean ZHU Rongji’s Footsteps at Tsinghua playing on the big screen, students in the audience opened up a banner that said, “Take care of yourself, our former dean. We all love you.” The film reminded everyone at the ceremony how involved in the school’s development Zhu Rongji has been in the past 30 years.
Alumni representatives JI Dejun, MO Tianquan, WANG Yang and several others proudly shared their experiences as “Founding Dean ZHU Rongji’s students”.
Alumni representatives
The ceremony concluded with a short film To Our Founding Dean ZHU Rongji, which reviewed a poem ZHU Rongj wrote for SEM’s 20th anniversary. The poem expressed the best wishes from our Founding Dean, and his high expectations have long been the guiding principles for all Tsinghua staff and students.
Other guests of the celebration ceremony included former Tsinghua and SEM leaders and faculty members WANG Dazhong, GU Binglin, HE Meiying, FANG Huijian, LIANG Youneng, HE Jiankun, DONG Xinbao, SHAO Bin, ZHAO Chunjun, CHEN Zhangwu, LI Zinai, XIE Wenhui, SEM advisory board members HE Jing, YANG Minde, GAO Erwen, LOU Jiwei, CHANG Zhenming, LI Rongrong and LIU Mingkang, SEM Honorary Professor LIU Zunyi, part-time professors XU Rongkai, LIU Shiyu and XU Xianchun, as well as Dean Bernard Ramanantsoa of HEC Paris, and other old friends of SEM.
WU Jiulin is an alumnus who graduated from the second phase of Cadres’ Training School of SEM. On the day of the celebration, he brought his family back to the school to participate in the ceremony together. He said, when he was at the school, it was back in the founding period of SEM. His generation of students became the witnesses of the school’s vibrant growth. Mr. WU sent his best wishes to the future of Tsinghua SEM. Former student LI He had just graduated a year ago from 2013 Finance MBA class. He said he identified strongly with Tsinghua and with SEM, and the 30th anniversary celebration reinforced the communication between alumni. Seeing that everyone is realizing Founding Dean ZHU Rongji’s guiding principals in their daily work practice, he would also like to take on his own responsibility to the country and contribute to the society.
30th Anniversary celebration ceremony
Tsinghua SEM was founded in 1984, with Professor ZHU Rongji being the founding dean of the school. SEM combines both economics and management education, with 164 full-time faculty members, and seven departments: Department of Accounting, Department of Economics, Department of Finance, Department of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Strategy, Department of Leadership and Organization Management, Department of Management Science and Engineering, and Department of Marketing. In the past 30 years, over 20,000 degree students and over 50,000 non-degree students graduated from Tsinghua SEM. The faculty and students completed numerous research projects assigned by the government and private sector. The school’s research capacity ranks among the top management institutes in China. Tsinghua SEM has also built close partnerships with international research organizations and top-tier universities, which resulted in fruitful global academic collaborations. Tsinghua SEM was “born with opportunities” and the school “grew with the trend of national trajectory” – the 30 years history of Tsinghua SEM is also the 30 years history of Opening and Reform in China. Tsinghua SEM rode the wave alongside the nation, accompanying its systematic innovations and rapid development.
User Login
