President selected for higher-ed delegation

President selected for higher-ed delegation

BY B.J. ALMOND
Rice News staff

President David Leebron is one of 12 leaders of American universities and colleges invited by Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings to accompany her on a trip to Asia Nov. 10-18 to promote the value of U.S. higher education.

This first official delegation of U.S. college and university presidents and senior government officials will meet with students and university leaders, government and business leaders and the media in Japan, Korea and China during International Education Week. These Asian nations are among the top countries worldwide that send the most students to study in the U.S.

”Our relations with these nations are vitally important to the United States,” Secretary Spellings said. ”Enhancing the flow of students and scholars to the U.S. from Northeast Asia will strengthen our ties with these nations and benefit higher education in our country. Our delegation will carry the messages that the United States welcomes foreign students, our country is a premier destination for educational opportunities, we welcome partnerships with foreign universities, and education plays an important role in our bilateral relationships.”

Assistant Secretary of State Dina Habib Powell will accompany the delegation, whose members were selected to represent the rich diversity of the more than 4,200 accredited U.S. higher-education institutions, from community colleges to advanced research institutions.

”Rice University is honored to be among the dozen institutions chosen to participate in this first mission by the secretary of education to help encourage more foreign students to study in the United States,” President Leebron said. ”We at Rice have already extended such a message of welcome to international students as one of the key points of Rice’s Vision for the Second Century: becoming a more international university, with a more significant investment in our relations with Asia. We fully realize that the great universities of the 21st century will of necessity be global institutions, and we value the unique social, cultural and academic perspectives and talent that international students bring to our campus.”

President Leebron noted that adequate preparation of students requires that they be able to learn from and work in more than one culture. Increasing the international diversity at Rice can give students a competitive advantage in the global economy.

In addition to the president of Rice, the delegation includes the chancellor of University of California