GTIIT Commencement

The first cohort graduated from the Guangdong Technion Israel Institute of Technology in a moving ceremony held earlier this week in China, where 149 students received their bachelor’s degrees.

GTIIT graduates

“GTIIT is the first and only endeavor of its kind in the mutual history of China and Israel,” Technion President Prof. Uri Sivan, who joined the ceremony via videoconferencing, said at the event. “Two ancient nations, which share the values of knowledge, scholarship, and innovation for thousands of years, have bridged across geography and language to create the marvel that we celebrate today. He went on to say that the language of science “bridges geographies and cultures to connect all people for the benefit of humanity. It is this language, that you, dear graduates, have acquired at GTIIT.”

Technion President Prof. Uri Sivan speaks at the first GTIIT commencement 

Prof. Sivan congratulated the graduates, faculty, and leaders of GTIIT. He thanked Mr. Li Ka-shing, former GTIIT Chancellor Li Jiange, former Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie, and the Technion Special Envoy to GTIIT, Nobel Laurette Distinguished Prof. Aaron Ciechanover. “The creation and success of GTIIT is the outcome of the work of many, both in Israel and in China,” Prof. Sivan said. “Still, we would not be here today without the profound vision, brilliant leadership, and deep devotion of these individuals to the idea, which is now a living fact.”

Prof. Gong Xingao, Chancellor of GTIIT, greeted the guests, graduates and faculty, and so did Technion faculty members Prof. Dganit Danino, and Prof. David Gershoni. Peleg Lewi, Consul General of Israel in Guangzhou, also spoke at the ceremony.

The Guangdong Technion-Israel Institute of Technology (GTIIT) was inaugurated in China. The project is the result of a historic partnership between the Li Ka Shing Foundation, the Guangdong Provincial Government, the Shantou Municipal Government and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.

To read the full story on the GTIIT website, click here. 

To watch the entire graduation ceremony: