Troy University institute honored with national award

Published 11:00 pm Monday, January 21, 2013

Confucius Institute at Troy University Director Iris Xu shows the award naming the university’s Institute as one of six Confucius Institutes of the Year in the United States. The award was presented in late December in Beijing by the Chinese government for extraordinary efforts by the Institute and the university in spreading Chinese language, culture, art and history.

Troy University’s Confucius Institute has been named one of the six best Confucius Institutes of the Year in the United States.

The award recognizes extraordinary efforts by Troy’s institute in spreading Chinese language, culture, art and history.

“When we held the ceremony in 2007 in Beijing establishing the Confucius Institute at Troy University, we proclaimed our goal to become the best Confucius Institute in the world. This award takes us a step closer to that goal,” said Chancellor Dr. Jack Hawkins Jr.

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The award was presented by the State Councilor of the peoples Republic of China, Liu Yangdon, and Xu Lin, Director General of Hanban at the seventh World Confucius Institute Conference in Beijing.

Troy’s program, established in 2007, is Alabama’s only institute with a statewide mission. The university’s institute is one of 400 worldwide, in addition to about 55 Confucius classrooms.

It serves schools, businesses, communities, government, nonprofit organizations and the media throughout the region by offering statewide instruction and lectures on Chinese culture and language, providing Chinese language teacher training, high school student summer camps, consultation for economic development, and promoting outreach programs on Chinese culture and language. It is a cooperative project of the State of Alabama, the Office of Chinese Language Council International, the Chinese Ministry of Education and Chinese universities.

“This is an extraordinary and deserved honor for our institute at Troy,” said Dr. Iris Xu, the institute’s director. “All of us at Confucius Institute are very proud that our programs in Chinese language and culture have been recognized as truly world class. The Confucius Institute at Troy University reflects the strength of Alabama’s connection to China and gives the state and the region a competitive advantage in doing business with China as it emerges as a leading economic force in the world.”