President of China's Harbin University of Science and Technology visits UIS

The University of Illinois Springfield is strengthening its partnership with China’s Harbin University of Science and Technology. A delegation, including the President of Harbin University, visited UIS on Friday, October 29, 2010.

The two schools want to grow their partnership to allow for the further exchange of students and faculty members. Already, UIS has welcomed visiting faculty members from China and now the hope is to give students from both schools exchange opportunities.

“I hope that this visit will be the beginning of more visits by faculty and students from the Harbin University of Science and Technology,” said UIS Chancellor Harry Berman.

College of Business and Management Dean Ronald McNeil helped arrange the delegation’s visit to the United States and recently traveled to China to meet with administrators at Harbin.

“In a global world we need to understand our cultures better to compete, to work together and collaborate, so it gives us that opportunity,” said McNeil.

Harbin is the largest province-owned engineering university in the Heilongjiang Province in northeastern China. The university has four campuses and a total enrollment of around 21,000 students.

“To work together it means these things will happen to benefit Springfield, to benefit our students and benefit Illinois,” said McNeil.

While in Springfield the group also toured Hanson Engineering, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and the Illinois State Capitol.