The flower presentation ceremony by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) delegation to the statue of President Co-ching Chu was held on the afternoon of June 2nd at the International Campus, Zhejiang University. Prof. Rashid Bashir, Dean of the Grainger College of Engineering, Prof. Philip Krein, Co-Director of ZJU-UIUC Joint Research Center and member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, Prof. Bruce Hajek, Head of the ECE Department, Prof. Bill Spencer, Professor and Newmark Endowed Chair of CEE Department, Foreign Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering, and Prof. Erol Tutumluer, Director of International Programs of CEE Department, attended the ceremony. The ceremony was presided over by Prof. Jin Jianming, Executive Dean of ZJUI, Prof. Ma Hao, Vice Dean of ZJUI, Prof. Li Erping, Co-Director of ZJU-UIUC Joint Research Center and Founding Dean of ZJUI, and representatives from faculty members and students attended the event.

▲ The ceremony was presided over by Prof. Jin Jianming, Executive Dean of ZJUI

▲ Prof. Rashid Bashir, Dean of the Grainger College of Engineering, made a speech

Prof. Rashid Bashir delivered a speech on behalf of UIUC. He expressed his highest respect to the beloved former President of Zhejiang University, Prof. Co-ching Chu. President Chu's deeds as the President of Zhejiang University and a meteorologist are widely known. However, few people know that he is an alumnus of UIUC, who truly impacted science, society, the nation and the world. He pointed out that he is pleased to see the statue of President Chu with the theme of "Return and Look Forward" standing on the campus of the International Campus. Prof. Bashir mentioned that with the establishment of ZJUI, the long-term cooperation history between UIUC and Zhejiang University will continue. With ZJUI building a world-class engineering college as the focus, both sides will work together to create a model for international cooperation in engineering education.

In 1906, President Edmund James, the fifth president of UIUC, wrote to President Theodore Roosevelt and proposed a plan to establish scholarships for Chinese students by using the Boxer Indemnity. This proposal was supported by President Roosevelt, and was officially established in 1909 as "Boxer Indemnity Scholarship Program" President Co-ching Chu boarded the ocean liner to United States, and he was one of the second batches of overseas students funded by the Boxer Indemnity Scholarship Program in September 1910. He was twenty years old then. In 1913, President Chu graduated from the College of Agriculture at UIUC, and in 1918, he received his Ph.D. Degree in Meteorology from Harvard University. He had declined many invitations from many colleges and universities in the United States and chose to return to his long-separated motherland with a passion to serve the country. In 1930, he took up the role to announce weather forecasts made by the Chinese and this marked the beginning of modern meteorology in China. From 1936 to 1949, he served as the president of Zhejiang University. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (The Second Sino-Japanese War), he moved the university to the west and successfully completed the “Long March of the Literati Army” in the history of Chinese higher education. During those 13 years, ZJU was transformed from a local university with only 16 departments in 3 colleges of Arts and Sciences, Agriculture, and Engineering to a comprehensive university with 27 departments in 7 colleges of Arts, Sciences, Agriculture, Engineering, Law, Medicine, and Teacher Training. And thus, ZJU became one of the top 4 universities in China, acclaimed as the “Oriental Cambridge” by Joseph Needham, a world-famous historian of Science and Technology. From the founder of meteorology in China to the President of ZJU, from a scientist to an educator, President Chu had advocated and practiced the “truth-seeking spirit” and set a “truth-seeking” role model for ZJU faculty and students.

Full of scientific spirituality and educational sentiments, President Chu's truth-seeking spirit of only asking right and wrong regardless of interests transcends national and cultural boundaries and carries the power of progress. This force has strengthened the cooperation between Zhejiang University and UIUC, bringing together faculty and students from both universities. ZJUI faculty members and students are also honored to witness the seeds planted by President Chu more than a hundred years ago, which are still thriving. We will also dutifully do our best to make it increasingly luxuriant and prosperous.