News Archive

By Anna Orso
Collegian Staff Writer

Choruses of “Ni Hao’s” and “Hello’s” could be heard throughout the room during the Grand Opening Ceremony of Penn State’s two newest additions Tuesday: a partnership with the Confucius Institute and the creation of the Dalian Joint Center for Energy Research.

The university’s collaboration with the Dalian University of Technology is part of the Confucius Institute partnering program, which partners universities in China with other universities around the world in order to increase the involvement of students and faculty in China, said Eric Hayot, co-director of the Confucius Institute at Penn State and director of the Asian Studies Program.

University Park, Pa. -- Academic leaders from Penn State and the Dalian University of Technology (DUT) officially celebrated the opening of the Confucius Institute at Penn State and the Penn State - Dalian Joint Center for Energy Research on April 12 at the University Park campus. Guests include DUT President Jinping Ou and Vice President Guiling Ning, Deputy Director of Education Lianping Jiang, from the Liaoning Province, China, the home of DUT, and several office and school leaders from DUT. The Confucius Institute at Penn State is supported by a five-year, $1 million grant from the Office of Chinese Languages Council International, in China.