Alumni share their experiences
Calligraphy gift presented
Prof. Zhang Xianlong gives a concluding speech
Attentive teachers and students ( photo/ Li Xinyi)
On March 26, the donation ceremony of the Jizhong Science and Education Fund was held at HZAU’s library. The event was presided over by Zhou Xiong, the Secretary of the Party Committee of the College of Plant Sciences & Technology.
Professor Zhang Xianlong welcomed and thanked more than 80 alumni in attendance. During a brief introduction of Jizhong Fund, he commended Mr. Sun Jizhong for his extensive knowledge and active and profound thinking on the development of higher agricultural education in China. During his tenure as president of HZAU, he introduced and supported young talents represented by “two Dengs and one Zhang”(namely, Academician Deng Zixin, Academician Deng Xiuxin and Academician Zhang Qifa) for research, which laid the foundation for the vigorous development of biotechnology and the transformation of traditional agricultural science. In 2019, Sun Jizhong’s students, Professor Zhang Xianlong and Professor Zhang Jinfa, initiated the Jizhong Science and Education Fund to commemorate their supervisor and inspire young people to inherit their predecessors’ aspirations in cotton research. Until March 2023, the fund has amassed a principal of RMB 800,000.
On behalf of alumni, Wu Jiahe, the first doctoral student of Professor Zhang Xianlong, donated more than RMB 500,000 to the school. Yang Renhai, the director of the alumni office and secretary general of HZAU Education Development Foundation, accepted the donation on behalf of the foundation and presented the donation certificate.
At the ceremony, Academician Zhang Qifa reminisced about his time working with Mr. Sun Jizhong, noting his wise decisions in promoting the establishment of the Biotechnology Center at HZAU, which eventually paved the way for the establishment of National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement. He praised the tremendous improvement in research conditions over the past 30 years, and encouraged all students and faculty to make the most of the present time and go the extra mile. Additionally, Guo Gangqi, a member of the Party Committee and Vice President of HZAU, urged everyone to uphold the educational ideas and scientific spirit of older generations, particularly that of Sun Jizhong. He emphasized the importance of taking moral education and talents cultivation as the fundamental task, and to contribute towards strengthening and revitalizing agriculture. He also encouraged them to practice the university motto, “Learn and Practice; Achieve and Help Achieve” and to work as outstanding contributors to the high-quality development of the cotton industry in the new era and pioneers and leaders in modern agricultural development. He expressed his hope that team members would gather in a more positive, open, and comfortable campus environment to forge new achievements.
Ten alumni representatives including Xu Qiuhua and Liu Diqiu presented calligraphy works expressing their gratitude to Prof. Zhang Xianlong and best wishes to HZAU and its cotton research team. The works featured phrases such as “Whip the fast ox, lead the slow ox,” “Bold innovation, extensive cooperation, hard work, and low-key life,” “Being conservative leads nowhere,” “Dragons soaring and tigers leaping, a garden full of blossoming talent.”
Graduates Wu Jiahe, Yu Yu, Wang Yanqin, and Han Jie shared their memories of studying and working at HZAU, expressing their gratitude to the laboratory for nurturing them, their gratitude to their teachers as well as their longing for the beautiful youth they spent there. Although they have left the laboratory for many years, they felt that their hearts are still closely connected to it, noting that the professional knowledge and the philosophy of life they learned there still act as spur to their progress.
“I am proud and delighted at your remarkable achievements, and I am sincerely grateful to all of you for your donations to the Jizhong Science and Education Fund. We’ll still have many more opportunities to gather together,” Prof. Zhang Xianlong said excitedly, “Although I’m now 60 years old, I’m thinking about new questions before bedtime every night.” At last, he encouraged everyone to forge ahead and never give up, no matter what difficulties they encounter in work or life.
Professor Sun Jizhong, the former president of Huazhong Agricultural University, has held prestigious positions as the Chairman of the China Cotton Association, the Chairman of the Hubei Provincial Association of Cotton and Linen, a former member of the Hubei Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and Vice Chairman of the Hubei Association for Science and Technology. He is a highly acclaimed crop geneticist and agricultural educator, renowned for developing prominent cotton varieties such as Huamian No.4 and Huamian No.101. His contributions to research on the techniques of overcoming incompatibility in cotton distant hybridization, insect resistance breeding, resistance to Fusarium wilt and Verticillium wilt and in vitro screening of disease resistant mutants are remarkable. During his tenure as president of HZAU, he emphasized strengthening disciplinary construction and talent cultivation, and established the Biotechnology Center and National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, which have made notable contributions to the overall development of HZAU.
Source: http://news.hzau.edu.cn/2023/0403/66058.shtml
Translated by Chen Hao
Proofed by Liu Bangyan
