The Department of Innovation and Entrepreneurship celebrated its 30^thanniversary upon the occasion of the 99^thanniversary of Tsinghua University.

On the morning of April 25, 2010, a celebration meeting was held in Tsinghua SEM. Present at the meeting were Tsinghua University’s Vice President Professor XIE Weihe and Dean of Tsinghua SEM Professor QIAN Yingyi.

The audience singing national theme at the beginning of the meeting

Vice President XIE Weihe highly praised the accomplishments of the Department through past thirty years. He said, the Department, together with the whole SEM, has always been leading the revival of the humanities science in Tsinghua University. Dean QIAN Yingyi also delivered a speech. He expected the Department to boost further improvement in the next decade by integrating the combined study of innovation and entrepreneurship.

ZHANG Zongyi, Vice President of Chongqing University, a partner institution of Tsinghua SEM, reflected on the friendship between SEM and Chongqing University in past thirty years. “Currently the economic development is motivated mainly by innovations and technology, which accords with the research fields of the Department of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The Department will surely play a critical role in the future.”

Vice President XIE Weihe giving speech

Professor GAO Jian, Assistant Dean of Tsinghua SEM, Chair of the Department of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, reported on the past achievements and future plans of the Department.

As for the last event on the schedule of the meeting, four alumni of the Department delivered speeches respectively, sharing their life experiences with the audience.

In the speeches, all alumni expressed strong feelings of attachment to Tsinghua campus. Alumnus LIU Shiyu, Deputy Governor of the People’s Bank of China, said: “When I encounter difficulties of life, I would go walking in the campus, no matter in the chills of winter or the heat of summer…Through all those years, Tsinghua has endowed me not only with knowledge, but also a tranquil state of mind.”

Alumnus LI Lianshui, President of Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, presented a “birthday gift” to the Department of Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

President LI Lianshui giving present to the Department

Background Information: Department of Innovation and Entrepreneurship

The track of Technical Economics was initially founded in 1979. The Department of Innovation and Entrepreneurship began to offer master's degrees in 1981, and was the first department granted permission by the State Council to offer a doctoral degree in its discipline. Its Technical Economics track was selected as a National Priority Discipline in 1988, 2002 and 2007.

Over thirty years, the Department has graduated more than 100 Ph.D. students, as well as more than 1,000 master’s and MBA students.

Research centers supported by the Department include: Research Center for Technological Innovation, an important research base for humanities study under the Ministry of Education, National Entrepreneurship Research Center and the National Economic Security Lab under the National Center for Economic Research.