Global
USC to Open Office in Shanghai
By Allison Engel on August 4, 2009 7:35 AM
Taking the next step toward doubling its office presence in Asia, USC’s Office of Globalization announced the opening of a new international office in Shanghai, China. This brings the number of USC offices in Asia to four. Two other international offices in South Korea and India are scheduled to open later this year.
USC is the nation’s leader in international education, with 7,189 international students enrolled for the most recent academic year, the largest number of any U.S. university. Its other Asia offices are in Hong Kong, Taipei and Tokyo. There is also an office in Mexico City.
The new office is located on the 27th floor of the Chong Hing Financial Centre in the heart of Shanghai’s central business district, over the hub of the city’s sprawling subway system. It will be an academic and research hub for the university in one of China’s most dynamic cities and will support the university’s academic mission by advancing research and other partnerships, recruiting international students and developing opportunities for USC students to study, conduct research, work in internships and engage in service-based learning in China.
USC alumna Jennifer Yixuan Zhao MBA ’09 has been appointed associate director of the new office. She joins Tom Petersen, director of the USC Marshall School of Business Global Executive MBA program at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Christopher Leung MS ’08, who represents the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.
Zhao, who did her undergraduate work at the University of Missouri-St. Louis College of Business Administration, was a senior consultant for the international consulting company Capgemini in Shanghai prior to studying at USC. She also has worked in Shanghai as a consultant at BearingPoint, an international management and technology consulting company.
“The Shanghai office will solidify USC’s presence in one of the Pacific Rim’s most important cities,” said C. L. Max Nikias, USC provost and executive vice president. “The university continues to look for ways to strengthen its collaborations with China, and the establishment of this office represents a significant step forward in these efforts.”
Adam Clayton Powell III, USC vice provost for globalization, said: “The opening of our office in Shanghai is a reflection of USC’s many and deep connections to China, as well as the city’s rising international influence. As America’s leader in international education, it’s essential for USC to have a full-time presence in China’s largest city and such an important center of finance and trade.”
Last year, more than 1,200 students from China enrolled at USC, making it the most popular American university among Chinese students. More than 2,100 alumni live in China, and there are active USC alumni clubs in Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai and the Pearl River Delta.
Prominent alumni include Ronnie C. Chan, chairman of the Hang Lung Group of Hong Kong and a USC trustee; Fu Chengyu, president of the China National Offshore Oil Co.; David Harilela, CEO of the Harilela Group; Lei Jieqiong, former vice chair of the National People’s Congress and former vice mayor of Beijing; and Ming Hsieh, entrepreneur and founder of AMAZ Information Technologies and Cogent Systems.
Academically, USC has several ties to Shanghai institutions, including partnerships with Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the College of Civil Engineering at Shanghai-based Tongji University. In 2008, the USC School of Architecture launched a permanent research institute in Shanghai called the American Academy in China. USC also founded the Association of Pacific Rim Universities, an international organization that fosters collaboration among 42 universities throughout the region, including eight in China.
USC’s Office of Globalization, under the Office of the Provost, supervises a network of international offices created to support the university’s academic mission. USC’s international offices work closely with academic partners in education and research, partners in the corporate and nongovernmental organization worlds, government agencies and international organizations, as well as a global network of the university’s alumni and friends.
An opening event celebrating the new office will be held in Shanghai on Oct. 27, just before USC’s fifth Global Conference takes place in Taipei Oct. 29-31.
The new USC office is located at Suite 2704, Chong Hing Financial Centre, 288 Nanjina West Road, Shanghai 200003, China. Telephone: (+86-21) 6137-5380. Fax: (+86-21) 6137-5389. Jennifer Zhao can be reached via e-mail at yixuanzh@usc.edu.
TAGS: globalization
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USC in the News
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The Chronicle of Higher Education mentioned USC’s $6 billion fundraising campaign. The story noted that USC had already raised $1 billion in a “quiet phase,” including the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College.
The Guardian (U.K.) highlighted two major gifts to USC in a list of the 10 biggest philanthropic benefactors in America. The list included the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College, and the $110 million gift from USC Trustee and USC Viterbi School alumnus John Mork and wife Julie to create the USC Mork Family Scholars Program.
The New York Times featured the USC U.S.-China Institute documentary “Assignment: China — The Week that Changed the World.” The documentary, part of a series, examines media coverage of the 1972 Nixon trip that reshaped U.S.-China relations after a quarter century of isolation and hostility. “People look back now and take it for granted that the outcome was preordained,” said the institute’s Mike Chinoy, who produced the documentary. Voice of America also featured the story.
Los Angeles Times featured the Oscar Senti-meter, a tool developed by the USC Annenberg School, Los Angeles Times and IBM that analyzes thousands of tweets about the Academy Awards nominees. The story noted that Mexican actor Demian Bechir received an enormous boost on Twitter the day of the nominations, with a total of 6,893 tweets mentioning him, a 47-fold increase from the day before. The story noted the tool uses language-recognition technology developed in collaboration with USC Viterbi School’s Signal Analysis and Interpretation Lab.
The Times of India (India) featured a three-day medical emergency training workshop organized in association with USC. At the workshop, held at GCS Medical College in India, 50 doctors and more than 100 paramedics learned how to improve emergency support systems. William Mallon of the Keck School of USC said that discussion topics included the use of portable ultrasonic devices to scan patients. “The ultrasound applications help physicians make accurate and timely decisions,” he noted. Daily News & Analysis (India) also featured the workshop.
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