On October 2, 2015, I returned to my Alma Mater, Tianjin university, to join the celebration of the 120th anniversary of its founding, which was also the foundation of the first modern university in China. During my visit, I was deeply impressed by the charms and characteristics of both campuses - the Weijin Road Campus with simple and elegant traditional buildings and the newly built Peiyang Park Campus with a calm and solemn atmosphere. All of these demonstrate the eternal spirit of our university - the mission of revitalizing China through education, the motto of “Seeking Truth from Facts”, the spirit of “rigorous academic scholarship”, and the tradition of “patriotic dedication”.   

Ever since my graduation in 1962, I have been concerned about every change and development of Tianjin University. Tianjin University has achieved great progress especially over the past five years. In this time, Tianjin University has established the ideal of the cultivation of excellent talented people with a love for the motherland and family, with a global perspective, innovative spirit and practical abilities, and research guidelines focusing on the China’s major national demands, international cutting-edge frontiers of science and technology, and serving economic and social development. We can see the active footprints of Tianjin University in science and technology. As well as construction of national key infrastructure, we can witness, for example, the air environment controls for the airplane C919, a minimally invasive surgery robot system and many others. My Alma Mater, Tianjin University is more and more resolved in these developments by following its motto of “Seeking Truth from Facts”. 

Recently, Tianjin University released the World-class Undergraduate Education 2030 Action Plan, actively putting forth the fundamental task of cultivating talented people with high moral standards; developing majors and disciplines with adherence to the ''five always'' principles: Always head in the right direction, always foster virtue through education, always serve the overall situation, always reform and innovate, and always maintain the integrity of TJU; improving the coordination mechanisms of innovative and entrepreneurial education; cutting through the entire education process between undergraduate, master and doctoral education; and implementing cultivation of talented people as the foundation of undergraduate education. 

Nowadays, I often roam around the campus under the moonlight, watching the faculty and students busy in their studies and research in their labs or buildings. Everything around me is so inspiring, reminding me of the old memories in wartime of Tianjin University as the then National Northwest Union University where diligent predecessors worked under candlelight overnight and made outstanding contributions for building a strong country. From the salvation to the rejuvenation of the country through development of education, Tianjin University people with a down-to-earth attitude will march forward on the tough road toward the development of a world-class University with Chinese characteristics and Tianjin University integrity. 

Editors: Sun Xiaofang and Ross Colquhoun