President Anzai Attends APRU’s 9th Annual Presidents Meeting
The Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) held its 9th Annual Presidents Meeting at the National University of Singapore (NUS) from June 30 to July 2. President Anzai, Vice President Jun Murai and Vice President Tatsuya Sakamoto represented Keio University at the event. During the New Initiatives and Open Forum Session, President Anzai discussed exciting recent developments in globally oriented education at Keio; focusing on the January 2005 establishment of the university’s Organization for Global Initiatives (OGI
) .
In a historic meeting of the Association of American Universities (AAU) and APRU, 53 university presidents from America, Asia and Australasia participated in the AAU-APRU Presidents Roundtable. Representatives from many prestigious institutions were in attendance, including OpenCourseWare pioneer MIT ’s Susan Hockfield. The roundtable discussion covered issues relating to global developments in university research and higher education and university strategies in relation to globalization.
2005 marks the 100th anniversary of the National University of Singapore, and all APRU Presidents Meeting and AAU-APRU Roundtable participants were invited to a welcome dinner at the Istana, the official residence of the President of Singapore, as part of the centennial celebrations. Various other commemorative events were held during the conference.
APRU: Formed in 1997, the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) is a consortium of 36 leading research universities in the Pacific Rim. APRU aims to foster education, research and enterprise, thereby contributing to economic, scientific and cultural advancement in the Pacific Rim. In addition to the annual Presidents Meeting and Roundtable, APRU also holds various research symposia, and a doctoral students conference each year. Keio University became an APRU member in 2002, and this is the third Presidents Meeting that President Anzai has participated in. For more information about APRU, please visit their website.
