YU President Noh Seok-kyun and his team visits the US, Brazil, Columbia and Chile
Creating global partnership with 7 of Latin America's top 10 universities
Met with the local ambassador and consul and pledged cooperation for increased exchange
[July 5, 2016]
<YU President and University of Sao Paulo President Marco Antonio Zago signs an exchange MOU>
Latin America's top university, the University of Sao Paulo (USP) in Brazil that graduated 13 presidents of Brazil, including the current acting president Vice President Temer, and eight governors of Sao Paulo, became a new global partner (left on photo below) of YU.
YU President Noh Seok-kyun recently visited the US and Latin America and signed MOUs with world acclaimed universities for exchange in education, research and human resources. In particular, YU displayed a forward-thinking path for internationalization by making a bridgehead for exchange with prestigious universities of Latin America, which has relatively little exchange with Korea not only in universities, but from a national aspect as well. Major companies of Korea such as Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motors are already competing with global companies in the Central and South American markets. Furthermore, President Park Geun-hye recently led the largest-ever economic envoy and visited countries in South America, showing that the government and corporate sectors have already opted for Central and South America as the new growth engine for the global economy. This is why YU's exchange MOU with universities in Latin America stands out even more.
<Photo of signing MOUs with prestigious universities in South America>
(from top left in clockwise direction, USP, National University of Columbia, Duoc UC, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile)
Mr. Noh visited a total of seven universities. He and his team traveled 42,000km over a span of 11 days and traveled all across the South American continent, and had remarkable achievements. USP, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), and the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, which ranked 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the QS World University Ranking, as well as the University of Brasilia (UnB) that was ranked 10th last year and 9th this year, and the National University of Columbia (UNAL) that was ranked 13th last year and 10th this year all became new global partners of YU. Duoc UC of Chile, which has achieved remarkable success in Korean language education and the design section, also agreed to cooperate for international academic exchange and human resource exchange with YU. (See the QS Latin America University Ranking below)
<<2016 QS Latin America University Rankings of universities that sign exchange MOUs>
Thus, YU established global partnerships with 7 of the top 10 universities of Latin America. YU signed international academic exchange agreements with the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) that was ranked fourth and Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (TEC de Monterrey) that ranked 7th this year in Latin America in the QS World University Ranking and has begun exchange student programs this year.
<YU President Noh Seok-kyun holds meetings with ambassadors in Latin America on promoting exchange>
(from top-left clockwise, Ambassador to Brazil Lee Jung-gwan, Ambassador to Chile, Yoo Ji-eun, Ambassador to Columbia Jang Myung-soo, Consul General in Sao Paulo Hong Young-jong)
This tour was also a chance for international exchange for the university to lead to promoting exchange on a national level. Mr. Noh held meetings with Ambassador to Columbia Jang Myung-soo, Ambassador to Chile Yoo Ji-eun, Consul General in Sao Paulo Hong Young-jong, and Ambassador to Brazil Lee Jung-gwan, and pledged to cooperate to promote exchange and offer global internship programs among Korean companies in Latin America. On his way back, he visited the alumni association in Atlanta and asked for the support of alumni for exchange with local companies and universities.
<MOUs with major universities in the US and Latin America>
On this, YU President Noh Seok-kyun said, "Through this visit, YU made a bridgehead to Latin America, which is receiving attention as a new market." He added, "In order to strengthen the global competitiveness of YU, we must pioneer and activate exchange with world-class universities and research institutes."
As part of this, YU has shown a sharp incline in its globalization over the past two years. Prior to this tour in South America, YU signed an academic exchange MOU with the University of Delaware, which is ranked in the top 10 of the US for the chemical engineering sector, while also signing academic exchange MOUs with major universities in Europe including Norway, Netherlands and Spain earlier this year. In February of this year, it also visited prestigious universities and major research institutes in Europe such as Oxford University in England, University of Strasbourg of France, and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft of Germany. In August of last year, it also visited major universities and government institutes of China such as the Chongqing University of Science and Technology, Chongqing University, Sichuan International Studies University, and the Chongqing Changshou People's Government where they agreed to exchange and cooperation. Thus, YU has been expanding its global partnership with world-class universities and institutes all around the globe. In result, YU rose seven rankings compared to the previous year in the 2016 Asia University Rankings to be placed 128th in Asia (22nd in Korea). In particular, the international student ratio rose considerably from 188th last year to 145th this year, and the number of exchange students going abroad also rose (36th to 32nd), showing an amazing rise in the internationalization index.
<YU-University of Sao Paulo MOU article (from the University of Sao Paulo homepage news section)>
