Over 300 teachers and students attended a lecture on November 25 delivered by the Chief Executive of Cambridge University Press, Mr. Stephen Bourne. During the lecture, Mr. Bourne explained the importance of developing foreign language abilities and shared his own experience in the workforce. Mr. Bourne is fluent in six languages, including Spanish, English, Swati, French, German, and Cantonese. Thanks to his extensive linguistic abilities and professional expertise, he has previously worked at high profile companies such as Deloitte Accounting and Exxon Mobile. Since 1970, Mr. Bourne has visited Taiwan on numerous occasions. He noted, during his talk, that Taiwan’s liberal economic environment is conducive to continued development, and yet Taiwan’s development is limited by language constraints, which sees Taiwan lose ground to countries such as India.

The Dean of the College of Global Entrepreneurial Development, Dr. Ay-hwa Andy Liou, expressed that Cambridge University Press is one of the world’s Leading publishing companies, and that, as Lanyang Campus’ academic departments are globalization-oriented, so was the nature of Mr. Bourne’s lecture. It is hoped, Dr. Liou added, that through hearing about the experiences of one of the world’s leading publishers, students will gain a more international perspective.