APRU Presidents at Caltech

The 13^th Annual Presidents Meeting and APRU Forum hosted by California Institute of Technology from June 28 to 30, 2009 saw the election of two new members to the APRU Steering Committee, and distinguished speakers and keynotes at the 3-day event. Twenty-four member presidents and 64 senior staff and delegates attended the meeting in Pasadena and a total of 33 APRU member institutions were represented.

• Program (as of June 10, 2009)
• Participants List (as of June 24, 2009)
• Presidents Open Forum
• Business Meeting and General Panel Session
• Remarks by President Steven B. Sample (USC) at Closing Luncheon

President Chorh Chuan Tan of the National University of Singapore and President Hiroshi Matsumoto of Kyoto university were elected members of the APRU Steering Committee, which provides leadership for the consortium.

• APRU Steering Committee

28 June: Welcome Reception

(L-R) Prof Kenneth McGillivray (Sec Gen, APRU), President Glyn Davis (Melbourne), President Wei Yang (Zhejiang), Prof Adam C. Powell (USC), Prof Richard Drobnick (MD, AWI) and Prof Kua Wongboonsin (Chulalongkorn)
	Keynote speaker: Ahmed Zewail, Linus Pauling Professer of Chemistry and Professor of Physics, Caltech; Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (1999)
(L-R) Prof Ahmed Zewail, Prof Henry T. Yang (UCSB) and Prof Jean-Lou Chameau (Caltech)

29 June: Breakfast Talk and APRU Forum

At the Breakfast Talk, guest speaker Julia Greer, Assistant Professor of Materials Science at Caltech, gave a presentation entitled "Nano-Materials: From Research in a Laboratory to Entrepreneurial Practice"

The APRU Forum, themed “Grappling with global challenges: How universities can provide leadership and strategies to solve the problems of the 21st century” featured panel discussions on current issues facing the world economy, higher education curriculum and how universities collaborate with businesses in research.

Panel Session: Economics and New Leadership: What do we expect from universities?"

Moderator: James F. Rothenberg, Chairman and Principal Executive Officer, Capital Research and Management Company Panelists: Deborah L. Wince-Smith, President, Council on Competitiveness (Presentation) Donald Tang, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, CITIC Securities International (Presentation) Alexis C. Livanos, Corporate Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Northrup Grumman Corporation (Presentation)

Panel Session: The Global Environment for Research
Moderator: Gene D. Block, Chancellor, University of California, Los Angeles Panelists: Henry T. Yang, Chancellor, University of California, Santa Barbara (Presentation) Marye Anne Fox, Chancellor, University of California, San Diego (Presentation) Hirosi Ooguri, Fred Kavli Professor of Theoretical Physics, Caltech (Presentation)

Invited speakers at the meeting included industry expert Vinod Khosla (founder, Khosla Ventures and co-founder, Sun Microsystems), who gave insights on new approaches to innovation and the need for reinvention in times of financial and energy crisis. At the gala dinner marking the end of the Forum, Charles M. Vest (President, National Academy of Engineering and President Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology), shared his views on globalization, research and technology in higher education.

Vinod Khosla (Founder, Khosla Ventures and co-founder, Sun Microsystems) gave a presentation entitled "Renewable Energy: Maintech, Not Cleantech"	APRU Interim Chair and Zhejiang University President Wei Yang presenting a token of appreciation to guest speaker at the June 29 gala dinner, Charles M. Vest (President, National Academy of Engineering; President Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Photo credit: Bob Paz

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