Christopher Molloy, chancellor of Rutgers University–New Brunswick, was a virtual presenter at the World Forum on Global Bay Areas at the South China University of Technology (SCUT) on November 14.
Molloy gave a 15-minute presentation on the work being done to keep our surrounding bay areas vibrant and productive. In addition, he discussed the strong relationship between Rutgers and SCUT as well as Rutgers’ enduring commitment to international education and collaboration.
The World Forum on Global Bay Areas was a joint in-person and online event that brought together government officials, educators and industry professionals from all over the world, specifically from prominent bay areas including New York, San Francisco, Tokyo and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
The forum served as a platform for inter-institutional collaboration and industry-education integration to promote higher education, innovation and entrepreneurship, and regional economic development. The event highlighted the international influence and regional characteristics of bay areas.
SCUT is a major public research university in the capital of Guangdong Province. It is a multidisciplinary university focusing on engineering and highly ranked within China. Rutgers has enjoyed a long and rich relationship with SCUT, highlighted earlier this year when Rutgers Global partnered with SCUT on the ROSE (Rutgers Overseas Semester Experience) initiative. The initiative was held virtually due to the COVID-related travel restrictions. (For more information about ROSE, please visit this webpage.)
Relationships among our universities globally are essential to growth and innovation, Molloy said. As he noted in his presentation: “I hope that this forum succeeds in initiating a creative new discussion and set of actions to further the economic, environmental and social roles of higher education in global bay areas. I believe that engagement between participants in events like this is a form of academic diplomacy that promotes ties not only between our university but also our countries.”