NTNU Expands Global Partnerships at AIEA 2025, Strengthens Ties with UT Austin
The 2025 Association of International Education Administrators (AIEA) Annual Conference, held from March 2 to 5 in Houston, Texas, brought together higher education leaders to discuss strategies for international collaboration. NTNU President Cheng-Chih Wu, who also serves as Chairperson of the Foundation for International Cooperation in Higher Education of Taiwan (FICHET), led a delegation of 13 representatives from seven Taiwanese universities to promote Taiwan–U.S. academic partnerships and strengthen global engagement.
This year’s AIEA conference focused on the theme "Building Bridges: Leading Internationalization in a Changing World" and convened international affairs leaders from universities across the United States.
NTNU’s delegation included Vice President for International Affairs Yi-De Liu and Director of the Office of Public Affairs Min-Ping Kang. At the invitation of Sonia Feigenbaum, Senior Vice Provost for Global Engagement at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), the delegation participated in discussions on alumni relations and fundraising strategies between Taiwanese and American universities. They also met with members of the NTNU Houston Alumni Association and visited Rice University to strengthen academic partnerships.
Taiwanese STEM Students Participate in Research at Rice University
On March 3, the NTNU delegation attended the AIEA opening ceremony before visiting Rice University for a meeting with Professor Junichiro Kono, host of the MACHI Program.
The MACHI Overseas Research and Internship Program offers female STEM undergraduates a three-week online course followed by a five-week in-person research internship. This year, for the first time, two NTNU seniors—Hsin-he Lin from the Department of Chemistry and Wen-yen Wu from the Department of Physics—were selected for the program.
The students worked with Rice University researchers and participated in cross-cultural exchanges with nearly 20 students from National Taiwan University, National Chung Hsing University, and several leading Japanese universities. Their participation reflects the increasing international engagement of Taiwanese students in STEM fields.
That evening, the NTNU delegation attended Taiwan Night, co-hosted by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Houston, the University of St. Thomas, and FICHET, where they met with representatives from NTNU’s global academic partners.
NTNU Shares Alumni Fundraising Strategies at AIEA
On March 4, at the "Building Bridges: International Education and Advancement" roundtable, Public Affairs Director Min-Ping Kang shared NTNU’s approach to alumni fundraising alongside UT Austin’s Sonia Feigenbaum and other panelists. The session drew more than 50 participants.
NTNU currently has 190,000 alumni, 23 overseas alumni centers, and a North American Alumni Foundation. Kang highlighted the university’s fundraising growth, with annual donations rising from NT$26 million in 2018 to NT$163.44 million in 2022—a more than sixfold increase, followed by steady continued growth.
She outlined four key factors driving this success:
- A tiered donation structure that segments donors based on financial capacity and engagement
- The establishment of the North American Alumni Foundation to support overseas fundraising
- Cross-departmental coordination among the alumni center, fundraising team, and Office of International Affairs
- Long-term relationship-building through leadership involvement
Expanding NTNU’s Global Alumni Network
On March 5, at a roundtable with UT Austin’s Sonia Feigenbaum and Indiana University’s Miguel Ayllon, Vice President Yi-De Liu discussed NTNU’s internationalization strategy, alumni engagement, and new opportunities for collaboration.
Liu emphasized NTNU’s role as one of Taiwan’s most internationalized universities and introduced the Global BEST initiative, which focuses on Global Links, Global Experience, Global Environment, and Global Talent. Under Global Links, NTNU aims to strengthen partnerships with top international institutions and expand its global alumni network.
He also shared NTNU’s threefold alumni engagement strategy:
- Economic capital: NTNU marked a fundraising record during its centennial year. Support from alumni such as Yi-Fa Lee and the National Development Council has contributed to green energy collaborations through the College of Interdisciplinary Industry Academia Innovation.
- Social capital: The university established the Principals Association of National and Private High Schools, connecting 520 principals across Taiwan to contribute to education policy and knowledge exchange.
- Cultural capital: Liu highlighted the contributions of Shumei Shih, NTNU’s 18th Outstanding Alumna and a professor at UCLA, for her role in academic collaboration between NTNU and UCLA. He also shared the story of Uğur Rıfat Karlova, a Turkish alumnus and the first foreign national to win a Golden Bell Award, who returned to NTNU this year to teach a cross-cultural course that was well received by students.
NTNU and UT Austin Expand Research and Exchange Partnerships
UT Austin is one of NTNU’s key international partners, with a growing record of collaboration across research and exchange initiatives.
Since August 2022, NTNU and UT Austin have held a series of high-level meetings, including the signing of a university-level memorandum of understanding and a student exchange agreement in November 2022, which has since enabled four NTNU students to study at UT Austin.
In March 2023, NTNU hosted the largest post-pandemic Forum on the Internationalization of Higher Education, featuring international directors from UT Austin, Pennsylvania State University, the University of Glasgow, and the University of Burgundy. In July 2024, the two universities co-organized EMI teacher training for Taiwan’s bilingual universities, sending 21 faculty members to UT Austin for a two-week professional development program.
This year, NTNU and UT Austin continue to collaborate through joint presentations at AIEA and the Asia-Pacific Association for International Education (APAIE) Annual Conference in New Delhi, a Global Research Forum in May hosted by NTNU’s College of International and Social Sciences, and a joint seed program supporting transnational research in chemistry.