President Rosenberg blogs from China: May 7, 2010


Welcome to President Mark B. Rosenberg’s blog chronicling his visit to China. The president is sharing commentary, photos and video from his international trip, so be sure to check back in the days ahead to learn more about FIU’s Marriott Tianjin China Program and the students, faculty and administrators who make it a success.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Today I am honored to represent our faculty, staff, and students at the 30th anniversary of our partner in China, the Tianjin University of Commerce. Located south of Beijing, the university is in the bustling port city of Tianjin, home to 11 million people.

I am the only representative from the United States present at the ceremony, but have met representatives from universities in Korea and Japan, among other dignitaries attending the event. The massive ceremony brought nearly 3,000 members of the TUC community to a spacious central plaza on the otherwise tightly packed central plaza on the campus. Sitting on the large stage, we faced our audience. We were framed by large academic buildings behind and in front of us, bordered on either side by grassy areas with newly planted trees as borders to the event. To our back was an oversized red billboard heralding the anniversary, complementing the red stage and formal red linens covering the long tables where we were seated.

In my brief comments to the polite crowd, I emphasized the commonalities between our two universities including our relative youth, our global outlook, our commitment to community, our commitment to world class hospitality management education, and the personal factoid that my son Benjamin had attended the TUC-FIU semester study program there in 2008.

No doubt, the partnership between TUC and FIU has begun to bear fruit–there are now more than 500 students who have graduated with FIU degrees. I am grateful for the opportunity to be a small part of this very strong cooperative relation. Today’s ceremony and the honor of speaking before such an impressive audience reconfirm the wisdom of the School’s leadership, past and present, in strengthening our worlds ahead approach to our mission as an international university.

— Mark B. Rosenberg

To read President Rosenberg’s blog from May 8, 2010, click here.