President Susumu Satomi was in Malaysia recently for the 20th APRU Annual Presidents Meeting, held at the University of Malaya from June 26. The event involved 21 university presidents and representatives from more than 80 member institutions.
During the 3-day event, President Satomi attended a Steering Committee Meeting where members discussed plans for the consortium going forward, and voted for a new chair. He also attended a working session with other presidents, in which the themes of “The Future of the Humanities in the Asia-Pacific Region” and “Recent Trends and Topics in Higher Education and Research” were discussed.
A keynote speech was given on the second day by the Malaysian Minister of Higher Education, who took the opportunity to introduce the newly-released APRU Impact Report. The report identifies key opportunities and challenges within the Asia-Pacific region and outlines, for the first time, the contributions of APRU’s 45 member universities, especially in research and innovation. The value of cooperation between universities, as well as with external organizations such as NGOs, governments and the private sector, was also emphasized.
The 2017 APRU Presidents Meeting is scheduled for June 25 – 27 at the University of New South Wales, in Sydney, Australia.
APRU: Association of Pacific Rim Universities
APRU was founded in 1997 to create an association of premier research universities around the Pacific Rim region to foster cooperation in education and research in areas including but not limited to economic development, science and technology, human resource development, education and environmental protection. Currently there are 45 member universities. Tohoku University joined in 2008 and President Satomi has served as a Steering Committee member since 2015.
