University of Guam Looks Forward to Strengthening Academic Ties with Universities in Taiwan
The University of Guam (UOG) and the J. Yang and Family Foundation signed an MOU in a virtual ceremony on December 8, 2022. The agreement will primarily support the Asia Pacific Studies Center project and strongly promote academic exchanges and research collaboration between the university and universities in Taiwan, greatly increasing bilateral opportunities for faculty and student exchange.
Taiwan has an advanced higher education sector, and it can offer world class expertise and training in the areas of agricultural development, natural resources protection and high technology, all of which are crucial for Guam’s economic development. This funding support will facilitate multi-faceted cooperation with Taiwan to train skilled professionals in related fields.
Each year, the funding provided by the foundation will among other things provide four scholarships for four incoming undergraduate students, tuition and fees for two first-year graduate students, support UOG students and mentor faculty members study visits to Taiwan, support faculty members from partner universities in Taiwan to visit UOG, and fund two students to undertake an undergraduate study abroad program.
The J. Yang and Family Foundation will provide US$ 200,000 to the university each year for three years. This is the first donation that UOG has ever received from a private sector donor overseas. Mr. Jackson Yang, president of the J. Yang and Family Foundation, and also a national policy advisor to the President of Taiwan, was born in Changhua in Taiwan and immigrated to the United States in 1985. He believes that the true success of life lies in giving back to the society and inspired by this belief. His Foundation established the J. Yang Scholarship Program which has assisted students at the University of California, Los Angeles, the University of California, Irvine, the University of California, San Diego, the Art Center College of Design, and the California Institute of Technology since 2019. The foundation has also donated more than five million dollars to promote Taiwan Studies in the US and to enhance Taiwan’s image in the academic field, coordinated by Rebecca Lan at the Education Division at TECO in LA
In Guam, the virtual signing ceremony was attended by Dr. Thomas W. Kris, president of, the University of Guam, Dr. Anita Borja Enriquez, Senior Vice President and Provost of UOG, Katrina T. Perez, Executive Director of the University of Guam Endowment Foundation, Dr. Chen Kuan-Ju, Senior Liaison person of the Asia Pacific Universities Consortium and Assistant Professor of Agricultural Economics at UOG, Dr. Monique C. Storie, Dean of University Libraries at UOG, and Paul Yin-lien Chen, Director General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO). In California, it was attended by Jackson Yang, his assistant Shirley Chen, and Rebecca Lan, Director of the Education Division at TECO in LA,The Education Division will continue working closely with UOG and universities in Taiwan to expand academic ties between them.
Reference:
https://www.guampdn.com/money/uog-gets-600k-donation-for-scholarships-educational-ties-with-taiwan/article_7c6ba1ce-79c6-11ed-b5c4-0b6126a16673.html
(Pacific Daily News)
https://www.uog.edu/news-announcements/2022-2023/2022-uog-to-receive-600k-for-scholarships-strengthen-educational-ties-with-taiwan.php
(Guam Daily Post, University of Guam)
