Winning Gold (Medalists)

Chancellor forges new ties in China.

Chancellor Biddy Martin PhD’85 led a UW delegation to China in late March, hoping to expand connections with academic institutions in that country. She came home with an agreement that will bring some of China’s Olympic heroes to Madison.

During the two-week journey, Martin traveled to Beijing, Tianjin, Hangzhou, and Shanghai, and she met with officials from several universities as well as the Ministry of Education, Academy of Engineering, Academy of Sciences, and Academy of Social Sciences.

“I believe the visibility of UW-Madison and of the state of Wisconsin itself were enhanced by our visit,” she said in a statement after her return. “The incredibly strong reputation of UW-Madison could be better leveraged by the state, and I would like to see more joint efforts to take advantage of the visibility of one of Wisconsin’s greatest assets — its world-class research university and its international reputation.”

Among the UW’s partnerships with China is an arrangement with the Beijing University of Sport that will bring eleven Olympic athletes from China to Madison for six months, beginning this summer. The group includes swimmer Luo Xuejuan and long-distance runner Xing Huina, both of whom won gold at the 2004 Games. The Beijing University of Sport is China’s leading institute for physical education and exercise science, and all eleven athletes are graduate students there. At the UW, they will study English, American history, kinesiology, dance, and physical education instruction.

Published in the Summer 2010 issue