This weekend, Stephen Schwarzman, founder of the Blackstone Group, announced the creation of the Schwarzman Scholars program at Tsinghua University in Beijing. The $300 million initiative, modeled after the Rhodes Scholarship program, will send 200 students per year to Tsinghua University for a one-year master's degree program.
Duke University President Richard Brodhead, an honorary member of the Schwarzman Scholars Advisory Board, said: "Education is the most critical bridge we can build across cultural divides. Students from around the world would be wise to consider a year of study in China, particularly when paired with the access and exposure that Schwarzman Scholars provides. Understanding China will be an increasingly valuable asset in future years. My congratulations to Steve Schwarzman and Tsinghua University for this bold new partnership."
Joining Brodhead in support of the Schwarzman Scholars program are Duke Kunshan University Executive Vice Chancellor Mary Brown Bullock and William C. Kirby, adviser for China programs at Duke University, and Spangler Family Professor of Business Administration and T.M. Chang Professor of China Studies at Harvard University.
Bullock and Kirby will both serve on the Schwarzman Scholars Academic Advisory Council.