UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Representatives from Penn State’s partner institution National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) visited University Park on Nov. 16-18. The visiting delegation included: 

• Professor Yung-hsiang Frank Ying, executive vice president 

• Professor Yi-De Liu, vice president for International Affairs 

• Professor Jai-Fei Hong, chair of the Department of Chinese as a Second Language 

• Associate Professor Chao-Mei Tu, associate director of the Mandarin Training Center 

While on campus, visitors met with Penn State Interim Provost Justin Schwartz, as well as representatives from Penn State Global, College of Education, the English for Professional Purposes Intercultural Center (EPPIC), and the Department of Asian Studies. The purpose of the visit was to share updates on the partnership and talk about how to move forward. 

NTNU-Penn State history 

Connections between Penn State and NTNU can be traced back to 1953, when NTNU received support from USAID with the help of Penn State. The College of Education has had connections with NTNU since 1983, when the first MOU was signed for the purpose of faculty and graduate student and scholar exchange programs. The two universities formally became partners in 1998, and in 2013, they established an Institute of Research Excellence in Learning Sciences, where they conduct academic exchanges. 

Recently, in 2019, there was a joint Collaboration Development Fund which called for researchers from both universities to propose joint projects. Seven teams were chosen in various fields, including: 

• information sciences and technology 

• geosciences 

• math education 

• computer science and information engineering 

• finance and accounting 

• Earth sciences 

• information engineering 

There are many Penn State alumni on the faculty at NTNU. Additionally, Taiwan is home to one of the strongest Penn State alumni chapters.  

There were 16 visits between the two universities between 2013 and 2019.

The visit formally began on Nov. 17 with remarks and presentations from Roger Brindley, vice provost for Global at Penn State, Frank Ying, executive vice president of NTNU, and Yi-De Liu, vice president for International Affairs at NTNU. Afterwards, the participants, which included representatives from NTNU, Penn State Global, the College of Education, EPPIC, and the Department of Asian Studies, held a productive discussion about furthering the activities of the partnership. 

The NTNU delegation then met with Schwartz before presenting a seminar on Huayu BEST, NTNU’s program which offers premium teaching resources to universities in the United States. These formal events were held in addition to various dinners and informal discussions between participants which furthered the productive and positive relationship between the universities. 

Next steps/get involved 

The partnership with NTNU continues to be strong and multidisciplinary, with a strong focus on education and learning sciences. However, other areas for collaboration are being explored. For more information on the partnership or how to get involved, contact Anna Marshall, assistant director for Asia partnerships, at awm15@psu.edu.