On the morning of Sept. 20, IIIS 2014 Fall Semester Opening Ceremony took place at the Lecture Hall, FIT BLDG, hosted by IIIS Assistant Professor, Class Tutor of the freshman Prof. Xiongfeng Ma. The ceremony was attended by Vice-Provost Prof. Si Yuan, IIIS Dean Academician Andrew Chi-Chih Yao, faculty members, as well as 30 Yao Class freshmen and 36 new graduates.

The Opening Ceremony started with the majestic National Anthem of China.

In his welcome remarks, Prof. Yuan mentioned that Yao Class is the leading-runner, not only in the Tsinghua Xuetang Plan on campus, but also in the Top-Notch Talents Program nationwide. He said: “Our students are not only made in China, made by Tsinghua, made for the whole world, but in particular they’re made to be the leading runners.”

Prof. Andrew Yao, also speaking at the occasion, recalled the development and change of IIIS during the past 10 years after he returned to China, and wished all the new students could create wonderful memories in IIIS.

Welcome and wishes were also extended to the new students by IIIS Assistant Professors Dr. Wei Xu, Dr. Alioscia Hamma, Senior Yao Class student Zhulin Li and Grade 2013 PhD candidate Yuxiang Yang, on behalf of all the faculty members and students respectively.

The last two speeches were made by Yao Class freshman Jiayuan Mao and 2014 PhD candidate Guosai Wang as representatives of the freshmen. They both shared their excitement and expectations of their new life here.

The Opening Ceremony successfully concluded in the Old Anthem of Tsinghua.

(By Yanping Wang)