News Archives - 2000

Note: Members of the delegation are sending us e-mail reports and, we hope, digital photos from the trip.

Augsburg College President William Frame is among a delegation of Minnesota private college presidents, board members, local business leaders and former U.S. Ambassador Burton Levin, led by the Minnesota Private College Council, which leaves for the People's Republic of China on November 3 with hope of strengthening relations between higher education systems in both countries.

The Chinese Ministry of Education will host the group's eight-day trip during which the delegation aims to accomplish three objectives:

* To assist in the development of a private college/university sector in the People's Republic of China.

* To increase the number of undergraduate student exchanges in the U.S. and the People's Republic of China.

* To expand a collective understanding of the past, present and future of Chinese culture, education and economics.

The delegation will meet officials from the Chinese Ministry of Education and university presidents in Beijing. In Xian, they will explore new developments in Chinese higher education with the Shaanxi Education Council; Shaanxi is the sister province to the state of Minnesota. The delegation will then meet with Chinese business leaders in Shanghai to discuss business and education relations.

"This opportunity arises out of numerous and enlightening exchange experiences over several decades among Minnesota private college students and faculty with the academic community in China," said David B. Laird, Jr., president of the Minnesota Private College Council, Fund and Research Foundation. "Our Asian studies programs with Chinese institutions represent some of the best organized and most frequently used overseas education opportunities in Minnesota. Our intent on this trip is to further capitalize on these opportunities in ways that benefit both Minnesota's private colleges and China's higher education system."

Minnesota Private Colleges Delegation
The delegation includes:
Burton Levin, adjunct professor, Carleton College and former U.S. Ambassador to Burma (1987-1990)
David B. Laird, Jr., president, Minnesota Private College Council, Fund and Research Foundation
William Frame, president, Augsburg College
Stephen Lewis, Jr., president, Carleton College
Dr. Mary Lyons, president, College of Saint Benedict
Dr. Larry Goodwin, president, College of St. Scholastica
Rev. Thomas Thomsen, president, Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn.
Dr. Robert Holst, president, Concordia University, St. Paul
Dr. Larry Osnes, president, Hamline University
John Slorp, president, Minneapolis College of Art and Design
Br. Dietrich Reinhart, president, Saint John's University
Br. Louis DeThomasis, FSC, president, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota
Shelley Thompson, CEO, U.S. Trust Minnesota and board member, Minnesota Private College Council
Theodore Chien, managing consultant, Watson Wyatt Worldwide and board member, Minnesota Private College Council
Rondi Erickson, president, Apprise Technologies, Inc.
James Field, president, Minnesota Independent School Forum

The 16 colleges and universities represented by the Minnesota Private College Council enroll more than 52,500 students and confer half of all undergraduate math and science degrees awarded in the state. Eleven private colleges and universities in Minnesota have programs in Asian/East Asian studies or languages.