Overitslifetime,theuniversityhasundergonemany
iterations:differentnames,differentbuildingsóand,of
course,different studentsandfaculty.Butonethingthatís
stayedconstantistheuniversityísemphasisontakingcare
ofits students,saysDou.
Doupoints tohowpast presidentsatWuhanUniversity
madespecialefforts tolookaftertheirscholars.Inthe
1930 s,thecountrywasbesetbytheSecondSino-
Japanesewar (1937ñ 1945 ),resulting in greathardshipand
extremeloss of lifefor theChinesepeople.Nevertheless,
theuniversitycontinuedtohouseits scholarsin grand
cottagesonLuojiaHill,thesunnyknollbehindthe
administrativebuilding.ì[Itwas]to showourvaluesand
attitudes towardtheseprofessors,thatwewantedto
continueto strengthenthefoundationofouruniversityand
excelacademically,îhesays.
Dou,whobecamepresidentin 2016 ,hashadan
impressiveacademiccareerin hisownright.Hestudied
spacephysicsattheUniversityofScienceandTechnology
ofChina(USTC),aprestigiousresearchuniversityin
easternAnhuiProvince.Headmits thatatthetime,he
didnítknowexactlywhathewasgetting into. ìWhenIwas
achild,Ididnítknowthedifferencebetweenastrophysics
andspacephysics,îheexplains. ìIlikedto thinkabout
outer space,andthatíswhyIchosespacephysics.îHe
focusedmuchof hisresearchontheearthísatmosphere,
namely,thestratosphereandmesosphere.Inthefollowing
decades,hewonnumerousawardsandaccoladesólast
yearhewashonoredbybeingselectedasamemberofthe
ChineseAcademyofSciences.
During histenureasuniversitypresident,Douísfocus
hasbeen firmlybackonearth.Heísmaking ithismission
toattract top talent to theuniversityandturnitintoa
world-class research institution.Forhim,thatrequires
focusingontwomain goals:improvingtheteaching
facultyandenhancingtheacademicoptionsandliving
conditionsfor students.Meetingthelatterobjectivemeans
allowingstudents tochoosetheircourses,aswellas
ensuringtheyhaveagoodstudyingenvironment. ìThe
goaloftheuniversityis tofosteryoungtalentwhocanADVERTORIALPHOTOS:(FROMTOP)ZHANG RAN,^201 2;WUHANUNIVERSITYW
uhanUniversityisoften
describedashavingone
ofChinaísmostbeautiful
campuses.Inthespring,
lotus ˇowers pop up on its small,
centrallake,andcherryblossoms
lineanavenuerunningbelowthe
imposingstonebuildingsoftheOld
Dormitory.Ifyouírewillingtoclimb
thesteep stairs past this structureó
fondlycalledìCherryBlossom
Castleîbyfacultyóyoucangazeacross to themain
administrativebuilding,andthehillcoveredinsun-dappled
treesbehindit.
But,saysWuhanUniversitypresidentXiankangDou,
thereísmoreto theuniversitythanjust pleasantscenery.
ìWhenyoucometoWuhanUniversity,youíllseethat
itísbeautifulandwehaveagreathistory.Butthatís
notenough,îhesays,sitting inthemainadministrative
building.ìWearecreatinganenvironmentandatmosphere
wherewerespectknowledgeandhardwork.î
WuhanUniversitywasfounded 125 yearsagoinWuhan,
acityofaround 10 millionlocatedinChinaíscentral,
landlockedHubeiProvince.Inasense,thecampusisa
smallerversionofthecityitselfóWuhanisalsocentered
aroundaseriesoflakes,includingtheenormousEast
Lake.Whentheuniversitywasfounded,itwasalittle
differentfromotheruniversitiesinChina.Atthetime,
mostuniversitiesfocusedonasinglediscipline,whereas
WuhanUniversityofferedaccounting,business,physics,
andforeign languages.Thatremains truetoday,andthe
universitynowboastsLeiJun,thefounderofsmartphone-
makerXiaomi,andaformer primeministerofKazakhstan,
among itsalumni.
ì[WuhanUniversity]isacomprehensiveuniversity,sowe
havemanyinterdisciplinarydiscussions.Thesecreatethe
uniqueness ofourschool.Here,thesocialscientistcan
talkwiththelifescientistóthiskindof mixturegenerates
morecreativity,îDousays. ìIímreallyproudofourglorious
past,ourflourishingpresent,andourbrightfuture.î
Beautiful Campus, Beautiful Minds:
CelebratingWuhanUniversity’sPast,
Present, and Future
XiankangDouTreesofWuhanUniversity