CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – A new University of Illinois seminar series starting in May is designed to show educators how higher education is evolving to address society’s changing needs.
Urbana Chancellor Phyllis M. Wise recently announced the first two speakers in the series, who will talk about “The Research University in the World of the Future” beginning May 2.
“In the world of 2030, how do we best extend our capacity to propel young people into their lives, to deal with global challenges, to provide opportunities for discovery and to preserve and enhance the life of the mind?” Wise said.
She said the impetus for the series is the commemoration of the sesquicentennial of the U.S. Land Grant Act, which established the U. of I. and a host of public universities across the country.
Currently, two speakers are slated for the spring, and two for the fall. Details for the fall talks are being completed; more speakers may be added. The talks are free and open to the public.
The May 2 speaker, Maria Helena Nazaré, is the newly elected president of the European University Association. She will speak from 4-5 p.m. in the ballroom of the Alice Campbell Alumni Center, 601 S. Lincoln Ave., Urbana.
Nazaré, a physicist, is a past president of Portugal’s University of Aveiro; has led several committees as vice president of the EUA (including the Internationalization Working Group); and serves on the board of directors of Portugal Telecom.
The second speaker, Wei Yang, the president of China’s Zhejiang University, is scheduled to speak from 4-5 p.m. May 31 in the auditorium of the Beckman Institute, 405 N. Mathews Ave., Urbana.
Yang is a nanoscience researcher and past president of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities.
Wise is completing an on-campus initiative, Visioning Future Excellence, addressing the university’s future. She said she is eager to hear the leaders share their vision of higher education’s future.
“These are some of the same things we’re already talking about and thinking about,” she said. “Some of the very issues we face are the same for our international colleagues. I’m eager to hear their perspectives and learn from them.”
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