To Write a New Chapter of the High-level University Construction
The speech by President Cai Guowei at 70thAnniversary Ceremony of Northeast Electric Power University
Dear leaders, guests, alumni, teachers, classmates, friends:
Good morning! Thank you for attend to the 70th anniversary ceremony of Northeast Electric Power University (NEEPU) in this Golden September. I feel delighted to represent my university and I would like to extend a warm welcome to all the leaders and guests who came to the ceremony! I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to friends who have long been concerned and supporting the development of Northeast Electric Power University! I would like to pay tribute to the old leaders, all faculty and staff who have contributed to the reform and development of the university for 70 years! I would like to extend my cordial greetings to the 150,000 NEEPU alumni home and abroad!
NEEPU, the same age with The People`s Republic of China, shares the same destiny, move（s）forward with the times and society. The history of NEEPU not only explains the development of the university, but also the gorgeous movement of our national rejuvenation, the development of the energy and electric power industry, which is so impressive and inspiring.
The 70-year development of the university was made by hard-working NEEPU people. The origin of NEEPU dates back to May 1949 when China was facing the problem of extremely shortage of talents of electricity. The predecessor of Northeast Electric Power University--Shenyang Advanced Professional School of Electrical Machinery came into being with the mission. As the first electric engineering school founded by the Communist Party of China, the most influential newspaper People’s Daily even reported its birth with the title of To Cultivate Talents for Industrial Construction, which was also the goal of the school thereafter.
After a short period of school running in Shenyang and Changchun, in 1955 the school was finally settled in Jilin City, at the site of stone buildings designed by the famous architect Liang Sicheng. Our school was upgraded to an undergraduate institution, achieving leap forward development in 1958. It was approved as the first group of master's degree authorized universities in China in 1981. Since 2000, despite the difficult exploration after the change of management system, the school has always adhered to the characteristics of running a school and seized the opportunity of development. It has successfully become key universities in Jilin Province and successfully changed its name to “Northeast Electric Power University”, which start a new era of the school Development. The university has actively promoted the strategy of “Talents Strengthening, Innovation Driving, Feature Development, Open Up & Cooperation”, and solidly promoted the construction of “the high-level teaching and Research University with distinctive characteristics”. The overall school-running capability and core competitiveness have been significantly improved. Great progress has been made in the development of various undertakings. In 2012, the university became one of the first group in “Midwest Basic Capacity-Building Projects”. Next year, the university was successfully granted the right to confer doctoral degrees. Nowadays NEEPU has transformed into a comprehensive university that features electric power education with a balanced degree system for bachelor, master and doctor. It thus plays a key role not only in cultivating high-level specialized talents for the development of China's energy and electric power industry but also in promotion of the scientific and technological progress of the power industry.
According to the old generation of the university, “during its early years, there were less than 10 faculty members and 230 students, no standard school buildings, no cafeteria, teachers and students living in the shed, and there were no qualified classrooms and laboratories, with only two old electricity meter used as visual training aids.” NEEPU people have overcome the difficulties of low starting point, weak foundation and lack of resources under such a poor condition, and they have built the school into an electric power university with distinct characteristics and wide social praise with unremitting endeavor. Up to now, the number of students in the university has exceeded 20,000. The high-level teaching team led by national-level talents and the modern campus infrastructure and teaching and research platform have become the driving force for the development of the new era and the promotion of high-level university construction. Yesterday, an alumnus who graduated 30 years said to us excitedly, "When I saw a teacher with a silver head, I saw the earth-shaking developments of the university, and I burst into tears.”In this year of 2019, when looking back at the tremendous changes in these years, we have found so many names worth remembering and so many stories deserving to read. We will never forget generations of NEEPU people who contributed to the development of the univeristy in the past 70 years: Wu Zelin, NiuShangkan, Zhang Shilun, Fu Zhenzong, Ma Zhaoyan, XueZusheng, Qian Shuwen, QiuChangtao, Xu Weiyong, Luo Jishou, Sun Jian, Mu Gang, Li Guoqing, etc. It is them, the awe-inspiring NEEPU people, who have made great contributions in the development of NEEPU with their unyielding efforts and persistence, patriotic feelings and morality, and strong sense of responsibility. Their spirit and character have already been integrated into NEEPU’s excellent tradition and become our driving power to carry forward our cause and forge ahead into the future.
The 70 years of pursuing excellence is the history of the exploration and advancement of NEEPU people. During the various periods of development and construction of the new China, NEEPU people actively served the national strategy, gathered strength on the needs of the industry, and passed on the solemn mission of rejuvenating the country through science and education: from the spread of “Boiler God, Boiler Ghost” to the three achievements represented by the boiling furnace research which went to the podium of the 1978 National Science Conference; from the “Asynchronous Motor Optimal Design” winning the National Science and Technology Progress Award, to the “Boiler Protection Fire Extinguishing Device” and “Laser Turbid meter” which filled the gaps in domestic research; from the pioneering research on the comprehensive utilization of oil shale, to the first independently developed 65t/h low-rate circulating fluidized bed oil shale power station boiler; from carrying out unique research in the field of power system security analysis and control to solving the problems of large-scale wind power network planning and security defense technology; from the “school-run technology industry” that led the trend in the 1990s, to the “National University Science and Technology Park” that concentrates on the power of the Internet of Things. Northeast Electric Power University has always been a pioneer in innovation in every era. With hard work and wisdom, the generations of teachers and students have left a strong mark on the journey of innovation in power technology in New China, and they have practiced the vows of staying true to the mission of serving the country with science and technology.
70 years is the history of NEEPU people's loyalty and responsibility for the country. Since the founding of university, it was relocated twice and changed its name eight times, but the original intention of running school to cultivate and supply urgently needed talents for national energy and electric power industry has never been changed. In the past 70 years, NEEPU people have sprung up with many brilliant talents. Among the 150,000 graduates, a group of leading scientific and technological talents represented by academicians of the two academies, special professor of “Changjiang Scholars Program”, National Thousand People Plan Specially-invited Expert and “Ten-thousand Talents Program”, and winners of National Science Fund for Outstanding Young Scholars. A group of alumni are active in various sectors of society, and even holding the leading posts at all levels. And many alumni have become the leaders of energy and power enterprises or institutions. They love their jobs and have been devoted to their grass-roots work, no matter how difficult the work conditions are. Where there is the need for light and energy, there will always be silently dedicated figures of NEEPU people. Generations of NEEPU people have been guarding thousands of lights in the vast land of China, and they have won the reputation of "cradle of cultivating higher specialized talents for electric power industry" for the university. In recent years, having been baptized by “Family-country” emotion and NEEPU spirit, the new generation of NEEPU students is adhering to the university motto of "Diligence, Rigorousness, Truth-seeking and Innovation", has been proceeding step by step in learning and practicing. Some of them become pioneers of innovation and entrepreneurship. Some have been awarded the "China Youth Science and Technology Innovation Award" on their own efforts. Some have won gold and silver awards on behalf of the country in the world dragon boat race. Some even were praised by President Xi Jinping for their professional excellence. In their respective life stages, they show the high-spirited demeanor of NEEPU students. It has been repeatedly proved that NEEPU, a fertile academic land, an ideal place for blooming and nurturing talents. Northeast Electric Power University is always the reliable educational force for the Party and the country.
In the past 70 years, NEEPU people have devoted their efforts and energy to forging its unique spirit with culture and education. Over the past 70 years, NEEPU has been bravely advancing on the road of enriching and rejuvenating our nation. In the process of continuous exploration and struggle, it has created its own unique cultural core and spiritual tradition. The patriotic feelings to the country and the belief of fully devoting to electric power have complemented each other, which endows the people of NEEPU with the feelings of serving the country sincerely, and also achieves the most valuable cultural inheritance of the spirit of NEEPU. The quality of “loving what we are doing and doing it all our life after choosing it” has continued to endow the people of NEEPU a loyal professional belief and a pragmatic work style, which have become our “gold quality”. Profound value identification, emotional identification and cultural identification have established very close emotions between Alma mater and alumni, as well as between alumni and alumni, and given us the spirit of solidarity. It has been proved for many times that whenever the NEEPU is at the critical juncture of development and whenever we need help and assistance, there is always the sincere heart and enthusiasm from the alumni. This spirit of unity has built a community of common destiny where all the people of NEEPU treat each other with sincerity and laid the foundation for the NEEPU to make continuous progress. After 70 years of deposition, these excellent spirits and traditions have long been internalized in our minds, flowing in our blood, practicing in our actions. Along with the Stone Buildings, they have become the unique identifier of NEEPU, firmly-rooted in people of NEEPU’s spiritual home and cultural feelings.
Teachers, students, and friends, we deeply know that the achievements and glory of NEEPU today cannot be separated from the correct leadership of the Communist Party of China. They are inseparable from the cordial care of the Jilin Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government, the strong support of the energy and power industry，and also inseparable from the support of related universities in China and abroad, the continuous struggle of generations of teachers and students, and the strong support of the alumni. I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of all teachers and students, to express my heartfelt gratitude and highest respect to the leaders, the related universities, the alumni and the people who have given NEEPU a lot of care, support and help.
“The wind is full of sails in the vast sea, and it’s time to build a successful career.” In the report of The 19th Session of National Congress of The Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping solemnly declared that “socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era.” As a provincial key university founded by the Communist Party of China and of the same age as New China, NEEPU will adhere to the guidelines of Xi Jinping’s new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics, fully implement CCP’s educational policy, Actively practice "four services”, profoundly grasp the “Nine Persistence”, and practice the spirit of the national education conference. Rooted in Jilin, with the sense of responsibility, the attitude of indomitable struggle, the strength of 70 years’ accumulation and the enterprising spirit, NEEPU will be brave to pursue dreams in the new journey of accelerating the construction of a high-level teaching and research- oriented university with distinctive characteristics.
To accelerate the construction of high-level universities, we must vigorously improve the quality of personnel training. Educating people is the top priority of the university and the fundamental mission of the university. We must adhere to the establishment of the people, return to the beginning of education, focus on cultivating socialist builders and successors, accelerate the pace of education reform and innovation, actively build an education system that comprehensively cultivates moral, intellectual, and artistic work, and form a higher-level talent training system. We will cultivate all kinds of outstanding talents with social responsibility, rule of law awareness, innovative spirit and practical ability, support the leadership of the Communist Party of China and China's socialist system, and adapt to the development needs and the new era of the energy and electric power industry in the country.
To accelerate the construction of high-level universities, we must vigorously promote the construction of the teaching staff. Teachers are the foundation of the teaching and the source of education. We must firmly establish the concept of "the first resource is talents", continue to implement the strategy of "strengthening talents", continuously optimize the system of attracting and cultivating, and continue to create an atmosphere of respecting teachers and teaching, and build talent development of “ near are pleasure. far away are welcome” Environment, adhere to the guidance of teachers, in accordance with the "four good teacher" and "four guiders" standards, gather and build a new era of teachers with a high political quality, high morality, professional skills, and high level of education .
To accelerate the construction of high-level universities, we must vigorously improve the ability of scientific and technological innovation. Academic is the soul of the university, and innovation is the way to strengthen the university. We must actively face the major needs of economic and social development, aim at the frontier technology of the industry's scientific and technological development, actively carry out basic, strategic, forward-looking academic research and engineering practice, promote cross-disciplinary integration, actively cultivate emerging disciplines, and build a number of major innovation platforms and The innovation team continues to enhance the vitality of innovation, and strives to produce original and iconic scientific research results, providing more powerful intellectual support for the scientific and technological progress of the energy and power industry and the construction of innovative countries.
To accelerate the construction of high-level universities, we must vigorously serve economic and social development. Serving the society is not only the value of higher education, but also the source of the university's own development. We must consciously participate in promoting the development of strategic emerging industries, actively integrate into the national strategy of “the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road” and the revitalization of Northeast of China, vigorously promote the integration of production and education, continue to promote the transformation of scientific and technological achievements and collaborative innovation of production, education and research, and open up new developments with service and contribution space. We must actively play the role of think tanks, and strive to provide high-quality science and technology, education, cultural services and decision-making consultations, and contribute to the national and Jilin province's economic and social development with distinctive and effective NEEPU wisdom and NEEPU plans.
To accelerate the construction of high-level universities, we must vigorously promote cultural heritage innovation. The greatness of a university lies in its great spirit and its emphasis on culture. We must carry forward the 70 years tradition of NEEPU, constantly sum up the connotation and give the "Loyalty, dedication, hard work and unity" to the quality of the university spirit of " Diligence, Rigorousness, Truth-seeking and Innovation ", and continue to improve The university's spiritual civilization construction level and cultural soft power, actively play the role of cultural education, and strive to cultivate the university spiritual culture rooted in the socialist core value system, with NEEPU style and NEEPU characteristics.
Leaders, friends, comrades, alumni, classmates!
Time is flying, but NEEPU is still on the way. Our university's 70 years is 70 years of hard work, 70 years of achievement, 70 years of outstanding contribution to the motherland's energy and electric power industry, and 70 years worthy of every NEEPU people's pride. Standing at the new starting point of the new era, Northeast Electric Power University, like our great motherland, is in the best period of development in history. The historical responsibility of inheriting the genes of NEEPU, promoting the tradition of NEEPU and re-creating the glory of NEEPU has fallen on our shoulders.
“The mountain is high, you will climb to the top if climbing up; the road is long, you will arrive if on the way.” We believe that as long as all the NEEPU people can firmly convince the power to serve the country and carry out the mission of powering the country and building a dream together, we will be able to gather the powerful forces that promote the rapid development of the university and the national energy and electric power industry. To realize the goal of “Two Centenary Goals" and the Great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation make a new and greater NEEPU contribution"
Thank you!
