Fostering diplomacy through education
The vice chancellor of NYU Shanghai recalls how he was motivated to become a bridge between the United States and China
Jeffrey S Lehman's passion for bridging relations between the United States and China was first ignited in 1998 during his first trip to the latter where he met 10 American professors.
Lehman was then the dean of the University of Michigan Law School.
The professors, all of whom were in their 90s, were similarly from the University of Michigan Law School and were eager to meet with Lehman upon learning that he would be in Shanghai.
The professors founded the Law School of Soochow University in Shanghai in the 1930s and though the school closed two decades later, they continued residing in the city.
"Meeting these American people who spent a big part of their lives involved in the connection between China and the US was very emotional for me. They were talking about how symbolically important it was for them that Michigan was coming back to China," said Lehman.
"It had a deep impact on me and made me think about how I wanted to live my life. I felt like I was given this opportunity to be a bridge between the US and China."
Lehman later became president of Cornell University. Part of his job was to renew relations with China.
In 2008, he was invited to serve as the founding dean of Peking University School of Transnational Law in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, and four years later he received calls from both New York University and the Chinese government asking him to serve as the vice-chancellor of New York University Shanghai (NYU Shanghai), which was still being set up.
"I returned to Shanghai in 2012 and settled in the former French concession. Each year I'm here I feel more and more rooted in the city," said the 60-year-old.
NYU Shanghai, the first Sino-US joint university, bid farewell to its first batch of over 260 graduates from 33 countries in May. "We're so proud of the graduates. We also cared deeply for them and made sure that they didn't regret their choice because they came to a school that did not exist while turning down opportunities to go to famous, well-established schools. They believed in the concept of NYU Shanghai and believed it would be beneficial to them," Lehman said.
He added that about half of the graduates will be attending graduate school, mainly in the US, while the other half will enter the workforce. Close to 10 international graduates will be starting their careers in Shanghai.
Though he has been here for about five years, Lehman said that the city's cosmopolitan nature still intrigues him.
"What I love about Shanghai is that everywhere you look, there's someone from somewhere else. When I walk on the street, I hear Chinese, English, French, German, Dutch and Japanese and so on," he said.
Another aspect of the city he enjoys is the vibrant arts scene.
"It seems that every time we turn around there's another museum or art gallery opening. You just feel in the city a kind of creative energy that makes you happy to get out of bed every morning," he said.
Lehman added that Shanghai always seems to be developing at a rapid pace. The first time he felt this way was during his first trip in 1998 when a hotel porter said to him in perfect English: "Did anybody ever tell you that you look a lot like Bill Gates?"
"That was in 1998 and this gentleman spoke terrific English and even knew how Bill Gates looked like. I thought the city as well as the country were on the fast track to opening-up," he said.
Lehman also pointed out that Shanghai is very much like Paris where he used to work for two years. He explained that both cities were the meeting point for citizens "to go on to build something important together".
"There is a sense that this is a place that is supposed to be built into something really special to serve the whole country," he said. "When talented people gather in one place, great things happen. Shanghai is unusually well-positioned and I'm very optimistic about the city's future."
zhouwenting@chinadaily.com.cn
