The University will soon open its first overseas office, as part of a push to extend the University’s global presence in China. John D. Simon, the Executive Vice President and Provost of the university, announced Wednesday the appointment of Justin O’Jack as director of the the Univeristy’s China office, which will be located in Shanghai.
O’Jack has lived in China for a third of his life and worked in the Chinese higher education system for the past decade. Most recently, he worked on building and managing educational exchange programs between American and Chinese universities, as well as operating the non-profit legal entity for the academic consortium in Shanghai. His new role as the director of the University’s overseas office will be to facilitate the creation and management of educational exchange programs between the University and Chinese academic institutions.
O’Jack said Shanghai was selected as the University’s new office location due to its role as the business and financial center of China. The selection follows an announcement by the Commonwealth of Virginia in April about the opening of a trade office in Shanghai, to take advantage of the opportunities offered by one of the world’s fastest growing economies, according to a press release from the Office of Governor McDonnell. Shanghai is also an academic center for several of the University’s major university partners, including East China Normal University, Fudan University, and Shanghai Jiaotong University. “The office will conduct outreach to Beijing, Hong Kong and other cities in China, too,” O’Jack said in an email.
The University currently has 15 formal agreements with mainland Chinese universities, research institutes and non-governmental organizations, which create opportunity for academic exchanges between the University and institutions in China, O’Jack said.
“A permanent presence on the ground is an important step toward better supporting and deepening University engagement abroad and developing new opportunities for students and faculty alike,” O’Jack said.
He described the relationship between the U.S. and China as “arguably the most important bilateral relationship of the twenty-first century,” and one in which ties between the two nations’ economies are becoming more interdependent.
“Solutions for many of the world’s most pressing problems, from regional security and the global economy to climate change, will need to be addressed through close cooperation between the U.S. and China, and the importance of better understanding between Americans and Chinese through educational exchanges and partnerships cannot be overstated,” O’Jack said.
Dr. Jeffrey Legro, vice provost for global affairs, said in the future, a presence China will be part of the opportunities and challenges for the University. He said that the President’s trip to China in the spring of 2012 showed that it was important for the University to expand its global presence.“The nature of intellectual work is global,” he said.
Several of the existent programs are based in Shanghai; it is the financial and business center of China while at the same time being an academic center of China, making it the ideal location for the overseas office.
Despite the University’s already established connections with fifteen universities in China, Legro said he believes a physical office is needed to better prepare students for an increasingly global world. Other options which were available, but ruled out, included a proposal to build a campus abroad or to simply keep the maintain current relationships without the physical presence in China.
The rough estimated cost of maintaining the overseas office is between $200,000 and $250,000 per year. Legros said he expects a more finalized number to be released over the next year.
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