Vincent Chang (academic)

Vincent Chang is an academic and currently serves as the Vice-Chancellor and the inaugural President of Brac University.[1][2][3]

Vincent Chang
President & Vice-Chancellor of BRAC University
In office
2019 – Present

Education

He received a B.Sc. in electrical engineering from National Taiwan University, an MPA from Harvard University, and an MBA from Yale University, a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer sciences from University of California at Berkeley and a second Ph.D. in economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).[4]

Career

Vincent Chang served as the executive dean of Peking University’s HSBC Business School, established as China’s first all-English international business school.[5] He was instrumental in bringing this brand-new school to an internationally recognized status. He was the founding president and planning director of the University of Business and Technology in Oman (academically affiliated with Virginia Tech in the US)[6], and inaugural chair for institutional development at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in China.[7]

Shortly after joining Brac University in February 2019, he introduced Brac University 2.0 as Bangladesh’s international, student-centric university and a research institution with impact[8]. The mission of Brac University 2.0 is to create and share knowledge, to uphold human values and to promote sustainability. It aims to become “a proud, global institution from Bangladesh”. To get there, he has made the near-term milestones consist of three pillars, namely internationalization, student life, and research with impact.[9]

During his first year in office, he re-structured and created the Graduate School of Management, School of Data and Sciences, School of Life Sciences, School of Architecture and Design, and School of General Education, in addition to School of Engineering, School of Law, School of Business and School of Public Health.

In March 2019, Vincent Chang visited the Rohingya refugee camps, which are located near Cox’s Bazar in south-eastern Bangladesh in close proximity to the neighbouring country Myanmar. Over one million Rohingyas have taken refuge in the camps following a Myanmar military crackdown in Rakhine State in August 2017. He has since committed Brac University to humanitarian research particularly about the Rohingyas.[10]

Following the visit, he supported the partnership between Brac University’s Centre for Peace and Justice and the International Institute for Social Studies (ISS) to organize the International Conclave on Justice and Accountability for the Rohingyas, which was held in The Hague, Netherlands, on October 18th, 2019.[11] The Conclave opened up constructive debates around the Rohingya crisis. It was announced by the Gambia Justice Minister at the Conclave that Gambia government would file a case against Myanmar authorities at the International Court of Justice.[12]

He officially introduced Brac University 2.0 on October 26th, 2019 in the Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony for Brac University’s new campus in Dhaka. The campus will be first of its kind in Bangladesh in terms of design, functionality and sustainability. The founder of Brac University, Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, laid the foundation stone[13].

Upon Vincent Chang’s invitation, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon came to Dhaka to give his keynote speech at Brac University’s 13th convocation (commencement) on November 23rd, 2019.[14] This was Ban Ki-moon’s first overseas convocation speech, for which he spent less than 24 hours in Dhaka. The convocation was attended by the President of Bangladesh, the Education Minister and the Foreign Minister.

In December 2019, Vincent Chang received the Bangladesh’s national flag that was taken into space by Bangladesh’s first nano-satellite BRAC Onnesha. The flag was delivered by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The satellite was developed by Brac University School of Engineering's faculty and students. [15]

In January 2020, he mandated the Duke of Edinburgh Award Programme into Brac University’s student life curriculum.[16] It is the first University in Bangladesh to make it an essential student experience.[17]

He was instrumental in Brac University’s inaugural membership of the Open Society University Network.[18] George Soros announced the University’s involvement at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 24th, 2020. The network is endowed with US$1 billion.

Under his leadership, Brac University ranked GLOBAL TOP 50 for ‘Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 1): No poverty’ in Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings 2020.[19] Brac University’s performance has been found to be particularly encouraging in delivering the goals in the university’s research on poverty and their support for poor students and citizens in the local community.[20]

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Vincent Chang launched the Student Assistance Fund in May 2020. And in June 2020, he launched Brac University’s online learning platform buX.[21][22][23] Bangladesh faces both internet accessibility and low bandwidth issues in the rural areas, where many students study remotely. The platform buX enables Brac University’s students to learn wherever they are, whatever their internet connectivity is, and make learning interactive and lively.[24][25][26][27]

His pre-academia experiences, mainly in the US, span over medical imaging, energy, investment, marketing and consulting, with start-up firms as well as known institutions such as JP Morgan, McKinsey, ExxonMobil and the US Federal Reserve.[28]

gollark: The SPUDNETv4™ protocol is complicated.
gollark: I think I may end up having to implement some weird state machine.
gollark: Oh, that's interesting, slightly.
gollark: No.
gollark: Art.

References
  1. Express, The Financial. "Prof Vincent Chang joins BRAC University as Vice Chancellor". The Financial Express. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  2. "Prof Vincent Chang new VC of Bracu". The Daily Star. 2019-02-14. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  3. Desk, News; bdnews24.com. "Prof Vincent Chang joins BRAC University as vice-chancellor". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  4. "Brac University appoints new vice chancellor". Dhaka Tribune. 2019-02-12. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  5. "Shenzhen". CUHK Business School. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  6. "Prof Vincent Chang new VC of Bracu". The Daily Star. 2019-02-14. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  7. "Vincent Chang - Guest Professors - Peking University HSBC Business School(PHBS)". english.phbs.pku.edu.cn. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  8. "BU2.0".
  9. "BU2.0 Mission".
  10. "BRACU to provide edn facilities to Rohingyas". bangladeshpost.net. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  11. "The Hague Conclave on Justice and Accountability for the Rohingya held". Dhaka Tribune. 2019-10-19. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  12. Simons, Marlise (2019-11-11). "Myanmar Genocide Lawsuit Is Filed at United Nations Court". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  13. "Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony Brac University".
  14. Desk, News; bdnews24.com. "Ban Ki-moon addresses Brac University convocation". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  15. "BRAC Onnesha".
  16. "Brac University partners with Duke of Edinburgh award". The Daily Star. 2020-01-31. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  17. "BRACU to give Duke of Edinburgh's Awards". New Age | The Most Popular Outspoken English Daily in Bangladesh. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  18. "George Soros Announces Global Initiative to Transform Higher Education". www.opensocietyfoundations.org. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  19. Desk, News; bdnews24.com. "BRAC University among GLOBAL TOP 50 for SDG 1 on THE Impact Rankings 2020". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  20. "Brac University ranks top 50 globally for SDG 1". The Business Standard. 2020-04-25. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  21. "Brac University launches online learning platform 'buX'". The Daily Star. 2020-06-22. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  22. "Brac University to launch online learning platform 'buX'". The Business Standard. 2020-06-22. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  23. "BRAC University launches 'buX'". New Age | The Most Popular Outspoken English Daily in Bangladesh. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  24. "Brac University establishes student assistance fund". The Business Standard. 2020-05-30. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  25. "Brac University to waive all non-tuition fees for summer 2020". The Daily Star. 2020-05-30. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  26. "Brac University launches student assistance fund amid coronavirus crisis". Brac University launches student assistance fund amid coronavirus crisis. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  27. Desk, News; bdnews24.com. "Brac University launches student assistance fund amid coronavirus crisis". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  28. Express, The Financial. "Prof Vincent Chang joins BRAC University as Vice Chancellor". The Financial Express. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.