MCLC: Beida replaces president

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Beida replaces president
Source: SCMP (2/16/15)
Peking University replaces controversial president with… another controversial president
Divisive university president Wang Enge is replaced after just two years by a chemist who has stirred plenty of his own controversies
By Zhuang Pinghui
Wang Enge (right) is leaving Peking University after less than two years as its president. Photo: China Foto PressPeking University’s contentious president Wang Enge is leaving the prestigious institution after less than two years in the job, and will be succeeded by someone described by local media as an even more controversial choice.
Lin Jianhua, a chemist who stirred controversy as president of two other universities, has been appointed to take Wang’s place.
The Central Committee Organisation Department made the announcement to the university faculty yesterday morning.
Lin is currently president of Zhejiang University, while Wang, a physicist and member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, will take another appointment.
“A university must protect the purity of truth and a bad atmosphere must not tarnish the souls of young people,” Lin said during his inauguration speech.
Lin, 59, is no stranger to the university. He obtained his bachelor and masters degrees and doctorate in chemistry at PKU and later taught there.
He headed PKU’s College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering for three years, and was vice-president of the university from 2002 to 2010.
Lin was then appointed head of Chongqing University, and his tenure from December 2010 to June 2013 was marked by reforms and controversy, which resulted in a widely-circulated open letter accusing him of “creating a hierarchy” and depriving colleges of decision-making power.
Lin was officially transferred to head Zhejiang University in June, 2013.
Many influential alumni issued an open letter demanding that the position went to an outstanding scholar and academician, which Lin was not, or a publicly recognised academic with a strong reputation.
There was even an open letter accusing Lin of indirectly causing the suicide of Chongqing University professor Liang Xichang over his alleged “mismanagement” of the university’s mechanical engineering laboratory.
Liang’s death in May occurred during Lin’s tenure and the laboratory was subsequently removed from a list of state-sponsored facilities.
Lin was put on the spot four months after taking office at Zhejiang University when one of his deputies, Chu Jian, was arrested for alleged bribery, embezzlement and destroying accounting documents.
Chu was said to be behind the campaign against Lin’s appointment because he was also a candidate to be president, Thepaper.cn reported.
Like his successor, Wang Enge was no stranger to controversy while in office from April, 2013. His project to set up the Yenching Academy, an elite one-year programme in Chinese studies, attracted widespread opposition to the plan to “upgrade” the Jing Yuan, the largest green open space on campus.
by denton.2 at osu.edu on March 20, 2015
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