A Meeting between Sookmyung and Stanford
- Views 1993
- Writer 총관리자
- 보도일자 2010-03-23
President Youngsil Han visited Stanford University, one of the top universities in the world, located in the United States and had a meeting with President John Hennessy of the university. President Han expressed gratitude to him for supporting Sookmyung’s International Summer School (SISS) by sending Stanford’s great scholars to Sookmyung University during summer semesters so that SISS programs operate in full swing and the Sookmyung Honor’s Program is carried out in Stanford University.
President Youngsil Han and President John Hennessy primarily talked about two topics in the meeting. President Han first pointed out the importance of the university carrying its Cooperate Social Responsibility(CSR) efforts. She expressed her thoughts of Stanford University’s instant aid to the earthquake in Haiti and continued to talk about the ways that universities can contribute to society. She took an example of Sookmyung’s Network for Open World(SNOW). She said, "Sookmyung University is pioneering new territory for accomplishing social responsibilities by sharing knowledge." "Knowledge sharing is an important business that universities can embark on," President John Hennessy also commented, and evaluated highly Sookmyung’s SNOW 2.0 and Open Course Ware(OCW).
Following the talk about a university’s responsibility to contribute to society, Stanford’s ''pioneering spirit,'' the new topic, which is greatly related to Silicon Valley was brought by President Han. Soon after, the talk changed to ''entrepreneurship.'' President Han told President Hennessy, "Sookmyung is the first university in Korea to start an ''Entrepreneurship Major'' in the undergraduate school, and we intend to teach students entrepreneurship and a challenging spirit." She continued, "there is a connection between our entrepreneurship curriculums and the pioneering spirit of Stanford that you emphasize." President Hennessy replied, "Asian outstanding talents are expected to be emerging as the global leaders who will pioneer new markets and Sookmyung students should also be part of the stream.
At the end of the meeting, both presidents discussed the details regarding plans to increase exchanges and cooperation between the two universities. President John Hennessy promised to help bring vitality to SISS by continuing to send their esteemed faculty members to Sookmyung for the SISS program. Moreover, it was decided that a group of Sookmyung students would be sent to Stanford on a ''Global Entrepreneurship Program'' so that Sookmyung students can experience Stanford’s entrepreneurial spirit as Stanford and Sookmyung commonly emphasize entrepreneurship.
President Han completed her visit to California after looking around the school facilities for Honors students. This tour was completed in the company of Dean Charles Junkerman of Continuing Studies and Assistant Dean Patricia Brandt of Summer Sessions.
Meanwhile, President Han joined a Sookmyung alumni meeting of Northern California during her stay in California and asked alumnae to unite and support Sookmyung’s growth. Gemma Hwang, a 1959 graduate of Domestic Science who held the meeting donated $100,000 for Sookmyung’s exchange programs with Stanford University and promised consistent aid for the students who would be studying in Stanford University. Sangyule Kim, Dean of the office of External Affairs and Development, expressed his hope, "I believe we established the foundation to make Sookmyung University a globally noticeable university and to extend exchanges with other world’s renowned universities through President Han’s visit to Stanford."