President Dr. Flora Chang signed academic exchange agreements with TKU’s two newest partner universities, Kagoshima University, Japan, and Technological University of Panama, Panama, at a signing ceremony that was held at the Ching Sheng International Conference Hall on November 4th, which was also presided by the Founder, Dr. Clement Chang. With these agreements, the number of TKU’s sister universities has expanded to 84. Impressive as it is, Dr. Clement Chang is not just content with the figure, in fact, he maintains that the real benefits of having sister universities are achieving substantial academic collaboration through the exchanges of students and academia.

Dr. Flora Chang adds that contemporary Higher Education cannot grow without international exchange students going both ways. Through these exchanges, research excellence can be nourished and eventually flourish.

These benefits are equally shared by TKU’s sister universities. Dr.Nagata Yukihiro, the President of Kagoshima University, which is well-known for tropical medicine research, says that Taiwan’s climate has made it an ideal research ground for his university. Therefore, he sees the tie with Tamkang a strategic necessity. Of course, he added that “Tamkang’s excellence in teaching and independent spirit” had attracted him to form alliance with TKU in the first place.

Similarly, Prof. Salvador Rodriguez, the President of the Technological University of Panama (TUP), hopes to enhance the research portfolio of both universities through frequent and quality academic and cultural exchanges between the two institutes. His university was established in 1981, specializing in engineering and sciences.

The alliance with his university was supervised personally by Dr. Fong Chao Kang, the Vice President for the Academic Affairs and Juan, Hung Hui, a professor of the Spanish Department, who visited Panama this summer. Prof. Juan, in particularly, is very positive about such a relationship, as he knows that TKU does not have too many academic international exchanges of this nature in engineering and sciences. With this tie, TKU can certainly expand its research quality in these areas. (~Ying-hsueh Hu )