PRODUCED BYTHESCIENCE/AAASCUSTOMPUBLISHING OFFICEbetterservesociety.Assuch,weputthestudentsígoals
andrequirementsasourutmost priority,îsaysDou,who
personallymonitors theconditionofthestudentsíliving
quarters.
AlthoughDousaysheís proudofWuhanUniversity,he
hasplans tomakeitevenbetter. ìIhaveadream,îhe
says. ìToday,thecompetitionbetweenuniversitiesisreally
fierce.Inthenextdecade,Ibelieveandhopethatwecan
continuetobring high-levelteaching facultyto ourschool.
Thiswill helpus tobuildafirst-classuniversity,respected
nationallyandinternationally.î
Ofcourse,part ofachievingthatgoalwillbegetting
morepapers publishedintopacademicjournals,says
Dou.Butthatís onlyoneaspectofwhatheishoping
forfrom hisacademicstaff.ìWealsobelievethatour
facultycanfocusmoreonthegrowthofourcountry,the
developmentofour society,andtheimprovementofour
economy,îDousays.
Douisalsokeentoencourageandattractmore
internationalstudentsóparticularlythosefromdeveloping
countries.Thatís partlytoincreasetrustandpartnerships
betweenChinaandthecountriesinquestion,butalso to
providestudentsfromthosecountrieswithtoolstheycan
takebackwiththemtoadvancethedeveloping medical
andlegalsystemsintheirhomelands,hesays,pointingto
AfricaandSoutheastAsiaasareasofparticularinterest.
Already,Wuhanhaslargenumbers of international
studentsascomparedto otheruniversitiesinChina.To
Dou,thisisimpressiveóafterall,Wuhandoesníthave
theglitzy,big-cityromanceofShanghai,or thegrand,
historicalsignificanceofBeijing.ìWeareinthehinterlands
ofChina,butwestillattractan impressivenumberof
students.Thatisquiteunique,îhesays proudly.
Andunsurprisingly,givenDouísbackground,the
universityis pouring millionsintodevelopingbetter
facilitiesacross thesciences.Accordingtohim,Wuhan
UniversityisalreadyoneChinaís strongestfor space
science,andinthecomingyearshewants toattractmore
exceptionalstudents thereandtoincreasecooperation
withresearchersintheUnitedStatesandUnitedKingdom.ButonethingDouwonítbetryingtodoisincrease
studentadmissions. ìBecauseIcomefromthesmallest
universityinChina,îhesays,referringtoUSTC,ìIdonít
reallyhaveanyinterestin increasingthenumberof
studentsatouruniversity.îInstead,hejustwants tofocus
onattractingtherightpeopleandmakingsuretheyare
supportedandencouragedadequately.ìWewant to turn
them into thetop thinkersintheirfieldsóitísaboutquality,
not quantity,îhesays.
AlthoughWuhanUniversityhasgrandplansforitsfuture
andiscertainlymorethanjustabeautifulcampus,thefact
thatthesurroundingsareaestheticallypleasingcertainly
doesníthurt.Studentscanwanderleisurelythere,taking in
thelast raysofthesun,or stayactivebyrunningaroundthe
sports track.WhenDouisaskedabouthisfavoriteplacein
theuniversity,herespondswithouthesitation:CherryBlos-
somBoulevard,ofcourse.
Looking nostalgic,herecallswatchingacoming-of-age
ˇlm called ìGirlsí Dormitory,î as a college student at USTC
inthe 1980 s,whentherewerefewmoviesavailablein
China.Theˇlmtoldthestoryofˇveˇrst-yearstudentswho
livedinWuhanUniversityísOldDormitorynext toCherry
BlossomBoulevard.Evennow,thatcherry-blossom-lined
avenuebesidethedormitoriesremindshimofwatchingthat
ˇlm, and in turn, of being a young college student himself.
TheOldDormitoryexhibitsacombinationofWesternand
Chinesearchitecturalstyles,whichtoDourepresentboth
theuniversityísglorioushistoryanditsmodernspiritof
opennessandtolerance.
ì[Standing]onthisboulevard,wecanfeelthehistoryof
WuhanUniversity,îDousays,referringto thegenerationsof
studentsandteacherswhohavewalkedtherebefore.ìWe
seethepast,thepresent,andthefutureofthisuniversity.îCenterofHumanitiesandHallofSciences CherryBlossomsatWuhanUniversity
PHOTOS:(FROM LEFT)PENG MIN,^201 6;YANGZIQING,^2018