On April 16, Tianjin University (TJU) appointed Liu Yi, Chief Excutive of Andon Health Company, to be the Dean of its entrepreneurship school, Xuanhuai School. It’s the first time in China that a private entrepreneur takes office as head of school in a university, and it’s the first step for Tianjin University to foster an ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship education with TJU characteristics.

“In future, Xuanhuai School will adopt a university-enterprise co-governance model and establish a board system to cultivate students who have the awareness and ability to integrate scientific research with industry,” said Liu Yi in his inaugural speech.

He further noted that in the next five years, the school would make fully use of the TJU-NKU Higher Education Science and Technology Park, a key innovation zone in Tianjin Municipality and design students’ courses and trainings in real business scenarios. “We will set up a venture capital fund group of no less than 3 billion yuan, attract 500 science and technology startups to settle in the Park, and offer job vacacies to over 10,000 outstanding graduates. In this way, we hope to contribute to Tianjin’s high-quality development.”

At the ceremony, Liu Yi and other entrepreneurs jointly donated 36 million yuan to support the construction of Xuanhuai School and promote the cultivation of innovative and entrepreneurial talents in Tianjin University.

Tianjin University’s Xuanhuai School is one of the first national innovation and entrepreneurship colleges designated by the Ministry of Education. It is named after Sheng Xuanhuai, the founder of Tianjin University’s predecessor Peiyang University, also recognized as the “Industry Initiator” of China.

By Wang Lei

Editor: Eva Yin