ByZhangHuichun
Kunshan Daily
  The plaque-unveiling ceremony forDukeKunshanUniversity (Initiative), a cooperative Sino-foreign university jointly run byWuhanUniversity,DukeUniversity and KunshanMunicipalPeople's Government, took placeonDec.19.The ceremony also featured video greetings from Dukeboard chairRichardWagoner, basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski,andDuke alumniNobelLaureate inChemistry Robert Lefkowitz. Theeventmarked amajor step forwardtowards the settlement of theworld-famous Duke University inKunshan.
  The Duke Kunshan University(DKU) campus is under construction on a 1,280mu (15mu = 1 hectare) site within the KunshanYangcheng Lake Industrial park.TheDKU is a comprehensive institute that offers undergraduate andgraduate programs in globalhealth, environmentalengineering,medicine, law, business, publicpolicy, etc.Studentswill be conferred the degree or certificate byDukeUniversityupongraduation.
  Aside from curriculum programs, theDKUwillsetup severalR&Dcenters likeGlobalHealthResearch Center.With its investmenthitting aroundRMB 5 billion yuan,the new university is expected toboasta total floorareaof0.5millionsquaremeters, 700 teachers and 7,000 students.
  Currently, the 220-mu and 0.95billion yuan first phase that includes a classroom and educationbuilding, student and faculty residences, an executive conferencecenter, etc.has almost been completed.Next year, the DKU willcommence the first enrollment ofabout 500 graduate students formasterprograms.
  Back in 2007,DukeUniversity,a research-oriented university thatranks 8th in theU.S.,was activelypromoting its policy ofglobalizededucation and planning to constructa top university in out-of-U.S.countries in its internationalization outreach. In the meantime,Kunshan, a city that had rankedfirst formany years onChina'sTop100 County-levelCities list,wasaiming at aworld's first-classuniversity in its opening-up and reform drive in an effort to foster alarge numberof talentswith internationalized vision and innovativespirit so as to provide the sustainable developmentof localeconomywith strongHRsupport.
  The common vision brought thefamous university in the U.S. andthe city south of theYangtzeRivertogether.On January 24, 2010, after repeated in-depth discussionsand negotiations among the threepartners, theDKU projectwasofficially inked and a grand foundation-laying ceremonywas held.OnAugust 17, 2012,China'sMinistryofEducation gave its official approval of the establishment of theDKU.
  Kunshan has now made it clearthat itwould spare no effort topropel the internationalization processof economy, city and talent in thecity's modernization drive. TheDKUisno doubta newformofmaterialized internationalization.