Concordia’s Center for Structural and Functional Genomics Director Adrian Tsang

Living up to its name derived from the Latin motto of its home city Montreal — Concordia Salus, or well-being through harmony — Concordia University attracts thousands of students from abroad as well as across Canada and its home province of Quebec.

Concordia University was created in 1974 through the merger of Sir George Williams University, whose history can be traced back to 1851, and Loyola College founded in 1896 and whose alumni includes the late Governor-General Georges Vanier.

Today, Concordia is as diverse as it is large, with 44,000 students from more than 160 countries.

China is the top country of origin for its non-Canadian students, while the university has several exchange programs for students in China.

Concordia’s ties to China run deep. Shortly after Canada established diplomatic ties with Beijing in 1971, Sir George Williams University welcomed students from China.

In keeping with this long relationship, David Graham, the school’s current provost and academic vice-president, visited the country in May and renewed agreements with institutions in Beijing.

“My priority is to ensure that the bilateral agreements with Chinese institutions are real, living agreements and not just hollow frameworks,” Graham said. “For that reason, I’m encouraged by the bilateral exchanges with the National Academy for Theatre Chinese Arts, from which we welcomed a group of students for a number of weeks last fall, and where our own students were studying when I visited in May.”

Concordia’s four faculties include arts and science — the largest with nearly 18,000 students — engineering and computer science — the fourth-largest in Canada and the largest in graduate student enrolment — as well as a fine arts department recognized as one of the premiere art schools in Canada and the John Molson School of Business, which is among Canada’s largest and best-known business schools.

The school also has more agreements with Chinese counterparts than any other Canadian university.

Among Concordia’s other partners in China are Beihang University of Aeronautics and Aerospace and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Concordia students are also studying at the Foreign Studies University.

There are several very active Chinese alumni groups, the largest of which are in associations in Beijing and Hong Kong.

“The Hong Kong chapter of our alumni association is very strong and active. They’ve been providing a number of quite significant scholarships,” Graham said.

With nearly a dozen faculty members engaging in research collaboration with colleagues in China, Concordia has boosted its reputation in various fields, ranging from the humanities to clinical psychology and genomics.

Concordia recently received a $22 million grant from Genome Canada for research led by professors Adrian Tsang and Vincent Martin.

The Chinese higher educational market is currently the object of interest from institutions from all over the world. Yet the young generation of administrators at Chinese institutions is often not aware of Concordia’s role as a leader in cooperation with China — more particularly with prominent institutions such as Tsinghua University, Renmin University of China and Hunan University.

Taking advantage of strong ties with quality Chinese institutions and combining those with Concordia’s reputation in Canada, Graham is looking to move this collaboration forward.

“I’m interested in whatever I can do to solidify and make more frequent and real our partnerships in China,” he added.

www.concordia.ca