Contact: Dustin Barnes
Photo by: Megan Bean
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Continuing its global outreach, Mississippi State is joining with a major institution of higher learning in China for the formal exchange of ideas, personnel and students.
Officially designated as one of 21 key universities in the world's most populous nation, the Beijing Institute of Technology enrolls more than 38,000 students and focuses primarily on engineering, science and the liberal arts. As its name implies, the school is located in the Chinese capital.
BIT is home to a dozen members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences or Chinese Academy of Engineering--equivalents of the national academies of Sciences and Engineering in this country. It has similar exchange agreements with 14 other U.S. universities, including Pennsylvania State and Purdue.
"It's important to understand that this partnership will benefit many programs on campus," said Roger King, associate dean of MSU's Bagley College of Engineering. "We now need to move on to the next step and begin utilizing the full potential of this alliance."
Associate dean Louis Capella of the College of Business and Industry said three faculty members in his college will make a week-long visit to Beijing in the fall. As early as next year, Capella said BIT hopes to reciprocate by sending members of its teaching faculty to Starkville.
The new partnership is part of an ongoing effort to strengthen the university's international programs, said MSU Provost Peter Rabideau.
"This partnership has become a priority for us," Rabideau added. "It's important for our students to take advantage of this opportunity and experience other cultures."
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For additional information, contact Dr. King at 662-325-2189 or rking@engr.msstate.edu; or Dr. Capella at 325-1889 or lcapella@cobilan.msstate.edu.