Scholarships help send UOG students to Taiwan for smart agriculture study-abroad experience

A ceremony on Aug. 25 recognized 10 University of Guam agriculture students who received scholarships to participate in a two-week Smart Agriculture Technology & Culture Experience Study Abroad Program in Taiwan this summer. The students each received $1,000 from the J. Yang & Family Foundation of California through the UOG Endowment Foundation.

The students travelled to Taiwan in July and learned about smart agriculture technology at the National Pingtung University of Sciences & Technology and about the culture and language of Taiwan from the Taiwan Huayu Bilingual Exchanges of Selected Talent Program at National Taiwan Normal University — two new sister colleges of UOG’s College of Natural & Applied Sciences.

Six National Pingtung University students also received scholarships and spent the month of August in Guam touring local farms and UOG’s agricultural experiment stations, learning from faculty, and also sharing how their school is incorporating virtual reality technology into the curriculum.

“These scholars have not only embarked on an academic expedition, but they have also immersed themselves in an enriching cultural exchange,” said UOG President Anita Borja Enriquez. “They have explored new territories, both geographical and intellectual, and have returned with a wealth of experiences that will shape their futures in ways we can only begin to fathom.”

Their scholarships are part of a $600,000 donation that is being made over three years by the foundation of Taiwanese-American entrepreneur Jackson Yang to fund the newly established Asia Pacific Studies Center project under the University of Guam’s Office of the President. Yang is the founder and CEO of a robust housewares and storage systems manufacturing company called Seville Classics based in California, chairman of First General Bank, and a national policy adviser to the president of Taiwan.

The donation will support two more years’ worth of scholarships for the Smart Agriculture Technology & Culture Experience Study Abroad Program as well as two fellowships for graduate students from Taiwan to study at UOG each year and two visiting faculty from Taiwan to UOG each year engaging in educational and cultural exchange.

Additionally, the donation will fund two other upcoming activities of the Asia Pacific Studies Center and scholarships for students to participate in them: an Austronesian International Arts Exhibition taking place in Guam in October and the International Conference on Sustainability Culture taking place in Taiwan in November.

For more information on the Guam-Taiwan projects mentioned or the next study abroad experience, please email Dr. Kuan-Ju Chen at chenkj@triton.uog.edu.

Main photo courtesy of the UOG Endowment Foundation

Other photos courtesy of University of Guam