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北京大学英语新闻网/Peking University News
Yale to become truly global university
By Hu Xiaoling
PKU NEWS 2003—11—14
http://ennews.pku.edu.cn/news.php?s=72146102
Peking University, Beijing, Nov.14th, 2003: Today in the Sunshine Hall of Overseas
Exchange Center of Peking University, Professor Richard C. Levin, the president of
Yale University delivered speech to the students and President Xu Zhihong bestow
upon Mr. Levin the rank of Honorary Doctorate of Peking University.
During the speech, Mr. Levin emphasizes the goal of Yale is to become a truly global
university----educating leaders and advancing the frontiers of knowledge not simply
for the United States, but for the entire world.
He mentions so many first places Yale took throughout the history. For instance,
Yale appointed the first science professor in North America, and it was the first
American institution to grant the degree of Doctor of Medicine and the Ph.D. degree,
the first to establish a program in public health, the first to establish a
University-based School of Nursing, School of Forestry, school of Fine Art, and
School of Drama. Yale was the first American university to create a department
devoted exclusively to graduate students. It was also the first to award a bachelor's
degree to a native of China.
Mr. Levin talks proudly about the great achievements Yale had taken such as the
discovery of the laws of thermodynamics and the function of RNA, development of
the influenza vaccine and the first interferon treatment for cancer. According to his
introduction, Yale scholars are among the pioneers of the modern study of ancient
Near Eastern languages and civilizations, linguistics, and comparative literature.
Yale scholars has also established the field of sociology in America, brought
mathematics into the study of economics, and forged the modern theory of
democracy.
Mr. Levin says, Commitment to public service is one of Yale's oldest traditions. Four
of the last six Presidents of the United States are Yale graduates, 533 Yale
graduates have served in the United States Congress, and there have been 55
cabinet secretaries and 18 Supreme Court justices who hold Yale degrees. Today,
the tradition of public service extends around the globe. Yale graduates have served
as President or Prime Minister of Burma, Korea, Mexico, and West Germany.
Finally, Mr. Levin concludes, to incorporate more international content into their
research and teaching, Yale needs to deepen collaborations and connections with
great international universities, especially those leading universities such as Peking
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