KGI Leaders Accompany Claremont Colleges Delegation on Historic Visit to Asia

CLAREMONT, Calif., March 21, 2008 – Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) today announced that T. Gregory Dewey, PhD, senior vice president for academic affairs, dean of faculty and Robert E. Finnigan professor, and Matt Reed, assistant vice president for institutional initiatives, will travel to Asia as part of a delegation from The Claremont Colleges.

The delegation will include presidents and other top officials of The Claremont Colleges plus members of the boards of trustees and the CEO of the Claremont University Consortium. The historic visit will make stops in Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing. The purpose of the trip is to provide information about the status of the consortium of Claremont Colleges as a premiere destination for undergraduate and graduate education in the United States and to promote dialogue and collaborative relationships with Asian universities.

The tour will begin March 27 with a reception in Singapore hosted by President SR Nathan at the Istana. Other receptions will be hosted by Ambassador Tommy Koh, Mr. Cheong Yip Seng and Mr. Cheng Wai Keung. The delegation is also scheduled to meet with high-level government, business and academic officials in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing in the days following. Minister Surin Pitsuwan, the new Secretary General of ASEAN and a Claremont graduate, will join the delegation for events on March 29.

Dewey and Reed will also meet with academic officials in Taiwan.

Founded in 1887, The Claremont Colleges are modeled after the Oxford University system and represent some of the most highly selective institutions of higher learning in the United States. All of The Claremont Colleges are ranked in the top tier of American institutions of higher education and are located in one of the safest and most livable cities in the United States according to a recent report by Money Magazine.

The delegation will visit leading universities in Asia, conduct academic outreach and emphasize the high standards of The Claremont Colleges in the liberal arts, science, business and the arts. The delegation will also meet with friends of the colleges composing the Claremont Consortium, donors, local alumni and parents of currents students at the Colleges.

The delegation’s itinerary includes visits to the following:

Singapore - March 27-30
Hong Kong - March 30-April 1
Shanghai - April 2-3
Beijing - April 3-4

Additional events may be scheduled in the coming weeks. The media is welcome and encouraged to attend many of the events.

The journey is a historic one for the Claremont Consortium as it marks the first time all of its presidents have traveled together to Asia. The delegation will include:

Pamela Brooks Gann, President, Claremont McKenna College
Christopher Walker, Trustee, Claremont McKenna College
David W. Oxtoby, President, Pomona College
Laura Skandera Trombley, President, Pitzer College
Susan Pritzker, Trustee, Pitzer College
William Brunger, Trustee, Pitzer College
Maria Klawe, President, Harvey Mudd College
Robert Klitgaard, President, Claremont Graduate University
Professor Michael Lamkin, President's Special Representative & Conductor, Claremont Concert Orchestra, Scripps College
Dr. Gregory Dewey, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs & Dean of the Faculty, Keck Graduate Institute
Robert Walton, CEO, Claremont University Consortium
Reg Gipson, Chairman, Board of Overseers, Claremont University Consortium

“The Claremont Colleges, some of the best colleges in the United States, sit on the Pacific Rim looking out at Asia. We have warm feelings and high expectations about the future of our relations with the Asia/Pacific world. We hope to make the Claremont Colleges a place where Asian students feel comfortable studying and where faculty from both sides of the Pacific collaborate on projects that impact all of our countries,” according to Reg Gipson, chairman of Consortium Board of Overseers.

Claremont McKenna College is ranked 10th in the U.S. News & World Report survey of American liberal arts colleges and is renowned as an elite institution for the study of finance, economics, international relations and public affairs.

Harvey Mudd College is widely recognized as one of the country’s leading centers for science, mathematics and engineering studies.

Scripps College is rated fourth nationally by U.S. News & World Report among women's colleges, offering a curriculum in humanities and the arts with an emphasis on interdisciplinary study.

Pomona College, ranked among the top seven of American undergraduate colleges, is the oldest of The Claremont Colleges, offering a traditional liberal arts program with majors in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.

Pitzer College is a national recognized leader in social and behavioral sciences, offering distinctive international programs and is the youngest college ranked among U.S. News & World Report’s top 50 liberal arts colleges.

Claremont Graduate University offers master's and doctoral degrees in the humanities and social sciences, government, economics, mathematics, botany, management and education and includes the famous Drucker School of Management.

Keck Graduate Institute is the first American graduate school dedicated exclusively to the biosciences, combining team-based learning, real-world projects and an innovative curriculum of applied life sciences, bioengineering, business management and bioethics.

“It is unprecedented to have this number of college presidents from the United States travel together to Asia,” stated Robert Walton, CEO of the Claremont University Consortium.

KGI Background
Educating the future leaders of the bioscience industry, Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) offers an interdisciplinary graduate education through its Master of Bioscience (MBS) degree program and its Ph.D. program in Applied Life Sciences. Using team-based learning and real-world projects, KGI's innovative curriculum seamlessly combines applied life sciences, bioengineering, bioethics and business management. KGI also has a robust research program concentrating on the translation of basic discoveries in the life sciences into applications that can benefit society. KGI is a member of The Claremont Colleges, located in Claremont, California.

Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences is dedicated to education and research aimed at translating into practice, for the benefit of society, the power and potential of the life sciences.