Over 180 University of Sheffield alumni and partners gathered in Beijing for a reception hosted by the University’s Director of Advancement Miles Stevenson and former President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Keith Burnett.
As well as helping graduates reinforce links with their University, the event included the presentation of a Distinguished Alumni Award to Lisa Wang who graduated with an MBA in Eco-Business in 2005 and is now an Executive Director at Sina Weibo – one of the biggest social networks in China.
The University of Sheffield has over 1,400 alumni in Beijing alone, with over 13,400 Sheffield graduates living and working across China.
The University of Sheffield Alumni Group in Beijing helps alumni remain connected to the University and to one another, and maintains links with a sister group in Hong Kong led by Economics alumna, Susanna Chiu, now a Director at Li and Fung Development.
Earlier in the week, the University’s Chief Operating Officer Andy Dodman and Miles Stevenson met senior alumni and supporters in Hong Kong and hosted a reception for more than 200 alumni in Shanghai.
The event was also attended by many of the University’s partners in Shanghai, including representatives from the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, the Sino-British College, Zhejiang University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the East China University of Science and Technology.
Mr Stevenson spoke to graduates about the University and reaffirmed the University’s commitment to, and pride in, its international friendships and relationships, embodied by the #WeAreInternational campaign.
This event was also an opportunity to welcome as guest speaker, Dr Gang Lu, the founder and CEO of TechNode – a bilingual technology news platform that covers the latest developments and start-up stories in China.
He received his PhD in Computer Science from the University of Sheffield in 2008 and MScEng Data Communication in 2002.
In 2017, he was awarded the British Council’s 2017 Entrepreneurial Alumni Award in China. Dr Lu gave an inspirational speech to alumni about his journey since Sheffield and how his experiences at University have shaped his success story.