NTU's Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences held a handover ceremony for its deanship on March 25^th.

President Si-chen Lee attended the ceremony in person, supervising the transferal of credentials and the official seal. Many high ranking administrators from within the university also made their presence.

National Electrical Appliance Co., Ltd., the company that made major donations to the Institute, sent its Managing Director, Mr. Tsung Tien Tu, to attend the ceremony on behalf of its Chairman Mr. Min-Houng Hong to express his congratulations.

NTU's Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences was the very first of its kind in Taiwan's colleges and universities, said President Lee in his speech. He pointed out that the establishment of the Institute underwent many grueling challenges.

Vice President Tzung-ho Bau was appointed to serve as the first Dean. Integrating various administrative units within the university, a solid base was constructed for the Institute with abundant available resources. Up to this date the Institute has reaped bountiful results in terms of its academic activities, inducing the Ministry of Education and the National Science Council to appreciate the importance of pursuing advanced studies in the areas of humanities and social sciences, to the extent that future establishment of similar centers and institutes in Taiwan's universities would be encouraged.

Dr. Chun-chieh Huang, a professor by special appointment at the Department of History, who also serves as the Director for the Institute's Program for East Asian Classics and Cultures, assumed the post as the new dean. According to Professor Huang, entering the 21st century, there are new initiatives implicitly in the making in international humanities and social sciences studies. These new initiatives mainly stem from the impact of the forces of globalization trend and the rise of the Asian power. He pointed out that the rise of the Asian power was a foreseeable trend in the globalization age of the 21st century. When the Asia region marches gallantly forward, the world at large needs to know what the future portends by delving into Asia's past. Therefore, in order to arrive at new wisdoms for the new age, the studies of Asian humanities and social sciences must be coupled with a cross cultural, cross national, interdisciplinary and multi-lingual perspective.