FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FROM: Nancy Gardner (206) 543-2580
nancylou@u.washington.edu

DATE: May 2, 2007

The University of Washington Business School and the Guanghua School of Management of Peking University have joined forces to offer an exchange program for undergraduates, Dean James Jiambalvo announced today. Professor Weiying Zhang, Dean of Beijing’s Guanghua School of Management, was in Seattle to officially sign an agreement with the UW that will allow business majors the chance to study in Beijing and Seattle beginning next year.

Jiambalvo said the union is designed to promote international cooperation and educational advancement, and to strengthen the bonds of friendship and mutual understanding between the United States and China.

"The world has indeed become flatter, and there is more of a demand now than ever to engage our students in an international dialogue," Zhang said. "We look forward to exploring additional collaborations, including research opportunities, in the future."

Borje ‘Bud’ Saxberg, UW Business School faculty director of International Exchange Alliances and a professor of management said the new partnership will serve students at both universities well.

"We are often challenged to get our students to adopt a global perspective, and with this exchange, students who study in both countries will gain a more worldly, educated and informative view of the business world," Saxberg said. "Given the importance of business relationships in general with China, the UW Business School has much to gain in following the modernization of China, which is progressing at warp speed."

"International business is a major topic among all great business schools and it has become increasingly important for students to travel and study abroad," Jiambalvo said. "There are a growing number of students who want to learn the Chinese language, and these types of agreements will enable that to happen and be very important in years to come."

UW Business School officials say the students interested in China and Chinese language studies – currently about 25 students – need to spend a quarter in a Chinese language area to fulfill the requirements for the Certificate of International Studies in Business (CISB).

"We believe Guanghua will be seen as a major attraction by these students," Saxberg said. "As the Business School moves toward accepting undergraduate students beginning with the freshman year, this will provide a longer time horizon for students to plan study and work abroad, compared with the two years that they currently spend within the UW Business School."

The Guanghua School of Management was established in December 1993 by merging the Department of Economics and Management, the School of Economics, and the Center of Management Science. Guanghua was originally called the Peking University Business School. The name was changed in 1994 to honor the generous donation from the Guanghua Education Foundation in Hong Kong.