HNC’s 30th anniversary

HNC observed its 30th anniversary this year, and we had a big celebration in late June (just after graduation) to mark the occasion. Former U.S. Secretary of State Madelyn Albright and former Chinese Minister of Commerce Chen Deming (himself an HNC alum) were keynote speakers – and we had numerous other events, including a concert by the Nanjing University Folk Music Orchestra, a Forum on Sino-Global Relations, and a Gala Dinner with several hundred guests at the InterContinental Hotel.

The occasion was also marked by a video (above, now available on YouTube), and just like in a previous HNC video, you can see yours truly for just a brief glimpse (at 1:27). This time I’ve got my arms pumping & waving around in my air pollution class, in a classroom routine my students know all too well…. [even though the (exciting?) slide under discussion was about ‘Project Prairie Grass,’ a series of tracer studies conducted in Nebraska in 1956 to determine air pollution dispersion coefficients].

But the real star of the video – evident in the cover shot – is HNC Prof. Joe Renouard, who teaches American history & diplomacy at the Center. Even though he’s a very well-published scholar with exceptional classroom demeanor & reviews, faculty wives remain convinced that he was highlighted in the video primarily to enhance HNC’s female enrollment….. (and yes, ladies, he’s still single!).