On August 20, City University of Hong Kong (CityU) celebrated the naming of Hong Kong’s first and only veterinary college: Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences.

“The college’s educational pillars reflect the diversity of the veterinary profession and will provide a foundation for establishing a center of excellence for One Health in Asia,” said Lorin D. Warnick, D.V.M., Ph.D. ’94, the Austin O. Hooey Dean of Veterinary Medicine at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. Warnick and Wendy Wolford, Vice Provost for International Affairs, spoke at the naming ceremony, which also marked the university’s official endorsement from Hong Kong’s University Grants Committee.

For the past decade, CityU has collaborated with the College of Veterinary Medicine to design a veterinary college with curriculum modeled on Cornell’s innovative, highly integrated delivery that focuses on problem-based learning. Together they are working to establish a regional center of excellence in veterinary medicine, food safety, the identification, diagnosis and prevention of infectious disease, as well as sustainable food production. This partnership deepens and strengthens a long tradition of cooperation between Cornell University and Greater China. 

“We see great value in the teaching and research connections that have developed through this collaboration,” said Warnick.

Cornell was one of the first American universities to establish cooperative agreements with educational and research institutions in Hong Kong. There are currently 10 active official agreements for research and teaching collaborations between Cornell University and diverse institutions in Hong Kong (and another 55 throughout Greater China). These collaborations are supported by the scholars from the region who teach and conduct research at Cornell’s Ithaca campus.

“To honor the connection we have with CityU and to foster new collaborations in Hong Kong and across Greater China, Cornell will open a center in Beijing in the fall of 2019,” said Wolford. “We hope that the center will provide a physical and intellectual base from which to strengthen our important partnership with CityU, and that it will catalyze more relationships based on this successful model.”