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Vice-Chancellor Professor David Greenaway has been awarded honorary citizenship of Ningbo – the home of The University of Nottingham’s China campus.
This rare honour is recognition of Professor Greenaway’s contribution to the development of The University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) and its substantial growth under his leadership. It also recognises his wider impact on the globalisation of Higher Education in China and increasing influence of the University in the areas of research and teaching.
Professor Greenaway is the only person of non-Chinese origin to receive the honour this year.
Ningbo proud of UNNC
Professor Greenaway said: “I am immensely proud to accept honorary citizenship of Ningbo because of all that it represents. It reflects the pride Ningbo takes in UNNC which has flourished in the last eight years. It is now well established and renowned throughout the world for high quality teaching and pioneering research.
“It was a leap into the unknown when the University branched into Asia, but the campus and its place in China are something we are very proud of.”
The University of Nottingham was the first foreign university in the world to establish a campus in mainland China, with the opening of The University of Nottingham Ningbo China in 2004. Professor Greenaway’s honorary citizenship is being marked with a ceremony in Ningbo, a city of around seven million people, on Monday 24 September.
A special visit
Professor Greenaway said: “I always enjoy visiting UNNC and this will be especially true on this occasion. As an honorary citizen, it will make my visits even more special from now on.
“There have been many benefits from choosing to be located in Ningbo, not least the warm welcome the University has received. This award reflects the good relationships we have which will continue to grow in the future.”
Strategic alliances with China
Over the last eight years, The University of Nottingham has developed extensive links and research collaborations in the world’s most dynamic economy – strategic alliances with elite Chinese partners include clean energy, green manufacturing, biomaterials, geomechanics and low-carbon vehicles.
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Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham, described by The Sunday Times University Guide 2011 as ‘the embodiment of the modern international university’, has 42,000 students at award-winning campuses in the United Kingdom, China and Malaysia. It is also the most popular university in the UK by 2012 application numbers, and ‘the world’s greenest university’. It is ranked in the UK's Top 10 and the World's Top 75 universities by the Shanghai Jiao Tong (SJTU) and the QS World University Rankings.
More than 90 per cent of research at The University of Nottingham is of international quality, according to the most recent Research Assessment Exercise. The University aims to be recognised around the world for its signature contributions, especially in global food security, energy & sustainability, and health. The University won a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 2011, for its research into global food security.
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