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September 29, 2006|Volume 35, Number 4


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Gift of $50 million to create
Greenberg Yale-China Initiative

Maurice R. ("Hank") Greenberg, through his family ,foundation, and The Starr Foundation are each donating $25 million to Yale to create the Maurice R. Greenberg Yale-China Initiative, advancing the University's collaborations with China in critical areas, President Richard C. Levin announced.

"We are pleased that the strong connections Yale has forged with China have given Hank Greenberg and The Starr Foundation confidence that the University will be a continuing force for positive intellectual, social and economic change in China and around the world," Levin said. "Hank Greenberg's own involvement as a business pioneer in China exemplifies the value of actively engaging that nation's people and institutions."

Maurice R. Greenberg, the retired chair and chief executive officer (CEO) of American International Group Inc. (AIG), is now the chair and CEO of C.V. Starr & Company. Greenberg built AIG into the largest insurance company in the world. He is the former chair of the Asia Society and is honorary vice chair and director of the Council on Foreign Relations. The Greenberg Foundation focuses on education, medical research and human need. (See related story.)

As chair of The Starr Foundation, Greenberg oversees the foundation's financial support of educational, medical, cultural, social welfare and public policy institutions.

The Starr Foundation was established in 1955 by Cornelius Vander Starr. A pioneer of globalization, Starr set up his first insurance venture in Shanghai in 1919. He died in 1968 at the age of 76, leaving his estate to the foundation.

The Starr Foundation, with assets today of approximately $3.5 billion, has donated in excess of $2 billion -- more than $1 billion in New York City alone -- making it one of the largest private foundations in the United States. In keeping with Starr's wishes, the foundation supports education, cultural institutions, medicine and healthcare, human needs, public policy and the environment.

The Maurice R. Greenberg Yale-China Initiative will support three major aspects of Yale's international outreach in China and around the world:


Greenberg Scholars

Yale has long opened its doors to international students and scholars, both to have a role in educating the leaders of other nations and to give U.S. students the opportunity to develop ties and understanding across a range of national cultures. Yale is also committed to sending its students abroad as an important complement to their academic studies on campus. As its relations with China have deepened, the University has been able to offer many of its students the opportunity to study, work, serve internships, or conduct research in China and has invited students from China to pursue their undergraduate studies here. Many Chinese students at Yale and Yale students in China will now be supported as Greenberg Scholars, allowing Yale to meet their financial needs fully. The flow of students across borders will create greater mutual understanding and deeper appreciation for distinctive elements of Chinese and Western cultures.


The World Fellows Program

Now in its fourth year, Yale's World Fellows Program brings 16 to 18 emerging leaders from diverse cultures and countries, including China, to Yale each year for a concentrated 13-week program of seminars, individualized research and study projects, and leadership training. Thanks in large part to the previous generosity of The Starr Foundation, the World Fellows Program has begun to fulfill some of its most crucial long-term goals: contributing to the professional development of rising leaders and creating a network of them. Graduates of the program's earlier classes include a presidential candidate in Uganda, the chief of staff to the president of Germany, a member of Parliament in South Africa, and a member of the Privy Council in Canada. The new support from Greenberg and The Starr Foundation will further strengthen the World Fellows Program.


The Greenberg International Conference Center at Yale

In recent years Yale has expanded its educational mission to include numerous programs for established and emerging leaders from China and elsewhere. Among these are programs for senior government officials, university presidents and their teams, and the leaders of state-owned enterprises. The Maurice R. Greenberg Yale-China Initiative will support the construction of a new conference center for the further expansion of international executive education. The Maurice R. Greenberg International Conference Center will enhance Yale's efforts to collaborate with leading Chinese universities and institutions.


T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

University launches 'Yale Tomorrow' campaign

Gift of $50 million to create Greenberg Yale-China Initiative

Greenberg: 'Flexibility' will be key Yale asset in China

Program will educate corporate leaders about . . . climate change

V.P. and union president co-chairing Yale-United Way Campaign

This year's 'Science Saturdays' for children celebrates women scientists

Alumnus Robert Burger is named an assistant provost

MEDICAL CENTER NEWS

More Yale-related MacArthur Fellows

Yale's Endowment earns 22.9% in the past fiscal year

Erin Lavik and Tarek Fahmy win biomedical engineering awards

Are we alone? 'Alien Earths' explores scientists' quest to find out

Exhibit explores connections between art and music in different period

Yale novelists, poets and playwrights will read from their works

Works by photojournalists in Iraq on view at ISM

Study finds affirmation exercise boosts minority . . .

Conference to explore ways to increase diversity in higher education

Traveling Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival comes to campus

Ancient coins will be showcased in 'The Romans in Asia' symposium

Two noted scientists serving as visiting scholars . . .

Five alumni to be honored with Wilbur Lucius Cross Medals

Five junior faculty members are honored by The MacMillan Center . . .

Memorial service for Jaroslav Pelikan

University of Michigan professor wins Yale's Douglass Prize

Campus Notes


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