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On August 14, 2019, President Akira Haseyama and a delegation from Keio University, including Professor Shinnosuke Obi, Dean of the International Center and Global Engagement, visited President and Vice-Chancellor Santa Ono of the University of British Columbia (UBC) while on trip to Canada and the United States. Keio has enjoyed a long partnership with the UBC, primarily through numerous student exchange programs. There have also been research collaborations in fields such as medicine, life sciences, and material sciences.
In the morning, President Haseyama and Dean Obi visited the Museum of Anthropology, which exhibits the history and culture of the indigenous peoples in the Northwest of Canada. After the museum tour, they moved to the UBC Peter A. Allard School of Law. The School engages in research that produces outstanding scholarship with a local, national, and global impact.
President Ono, who is one of the members of the Global Advisory Council of Keio University, then invited President Haseyama and the delegation for lunch, at which they discussed extensively how to further promote the relationship between the two institutions in education and research as well as other activities such as sports. Roughly one year ago, a memorable friendly match was played between the UBC Thunderbirds and Keio University Baseball Club at Hiyoshi Campus in Yokohama. This year, the Keio baseball team joined the newly established International Collegiate Baseball Classic at UBC on August 13–18, 2019. It was the inaugural Canadian-American-Japanese University Baseball Tournament, which features Keio University, the UBC Thunderbirds, the California State University Sacramento (CSUS) Hornets, and the University of Tokyo.
In the afternoon, the Keio delegation toured the Michael Smith Laboratories, the world-famous biomedical engineering laboratories at UBC named after the Nobel laureate, to see firsthand the site of interdisciplinary experimentation and research. They also visited the Faculty of Medicine. This reciprocates President Ono’s visit to Keio University Hospital and the JSR-Keio University Medical and Chemical Innovation Center (JKiC) in August 2018. The medical schools of the two universities are exploring new possibilities for collaboration in interdisciplinary research and education in a global context.
On the following day, August 15, both presidents met once again at the Vancouver Club before the first match of the baseball tournament between the two universities. President Ono awarded the UBC’s President Medal to President Haseyama to commemorate the occasion and lasting friendship of Keio and UBC. President Haseyama used this opportunity to present President Ono with a plaque to commemorate him joining the Keio University Global Advisory Council earlier this year.
The Keio Baseball Club went on to win the game against the UBC Thunderbirds 3-1, and on August 18, Keio became the first champion of the tournament by defeating Sacramento State.
Reference:
President Ono's Twitter
https://twitter.com/ubcprez/status/1161802353382576129
https://twitter.com/ubcprez/status/1162369021058043904
UBC Thunderbirds website
https://gothunderbirds.ca/sports/2019/4/30/inaugural-collegiate-baseball-classic.aspx
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