Museums as Cultural Intermediaries | Meet the Speakers of the opening and closing ceremonies
Date：2023-05-17
Join us for the third dialogue of the China-Europe-America Museums Cooperation Initiative on May 18-19, where we will explore how museums serve as cultural intermediaries in the dialogue between civilizations. We are excited to announce our distinguished speakers who are from China, the United States, France, Italy, Greece, and Bulgaria for the opening and closing ceremonies.
Opening Ceremony
David Gosset, founder of the China-Europe-America Global Initiative, is a global affairs and international relations expert. He has received an honorary distinction by the King of Spain, the President of Italy, and the highest honor of his own country France, the Légion d'Honneur. He is the author of Limited Views on the Chinese Renaissance and the editor of the triptych China and the World.
Gao Anming, Vice President and Editor-in-Chief of China International Communications Group (CICG), former Deputy Editor-in-Chief of China Daily.
Prof. Chen Yulu is the President of Nankai University. Before taking this position, he served as the Deputy Governor of the People's Bank of China for seven years, and before that, he was the President of Beijing Foreign Studies University and Renmin University of China successively. As a professor of finance, President Chen's research interests include international finance and financial policies.
Lina G. Mendoni, Minister of Culture and Sports, Greece. She served as a Special Scientific Advisor to the Hellenic Ministry of Environment, Planning and Public Works from 1994 to 1997, and to the Hellenic Ministry for the Aegean from 1997 to 1999. From March 1999 to March 2004 Lina Mendoni was Secretary General of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, and from November 2009 to January 2015 of the Ministries of Culture and Tourism, Culture and Sports, and Education and Religious Affairs, Culture and Sports successively. In 1989, she became a member of the research staff at the Institute of Greek and Roman Antiquity (now Institute of Historical Research) of the National Hellenic Research Foundation, where she still serves as a Principal Researcher.
Irina Bokova has been two terms the Director-General of UNESCO from 2009 to 2017. She is both the first female and the first Southeastern European to head the agency. Having graduated from Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Irina Bokova was a Fellow at the University of Maryland, Washington, and followed an executive program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. At UNESCO, Bokova advocated for gender equality, improved education and preventing funding for terrorism, especially by enforcing the protection of intellectual goods.
Debora Lehr is an accomplished global business strategist who has supported leading global firms and organizations to grow their presence in the world’s most complex markets. Deborah has applied her business acumen and policy knowledge to launch the Antiquities Coalition, which works with governments across the world to fight against antiquities trafficking and its use in funding terrorism and organized crime. She is on the Board of the World Monuments Fund, the Middle East Institute, the International Advisory Board of the London School of Economics, and the Sesame Workshop Global Advisory Board. Deborah is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. UNESCO has nominated Deborah as one of its inaugural list of accomplished global women. She also received the prestigious Hadrian Award from the World Monument Fund for her work in fighting the illicit trade in antiquities.
Closing Ceremony
David Gosset, founder of the China-Europe-America Global Initiative, is a global affairs and international relations expert. He has received an honorary distinction by the King of Spain, the President of Italy, and the highest honor of his own country France, the Légion d'Honneur. He is the author of Limited Views on the Chinese Renaissance and the editor of the triptych China and the World.
Joan M. McEntee is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MKBC and Former Under Secretary for International Trade in the U.S. Department of Commerce. She has served in a number of senior international trade positions in the U.S. government, covering communication, transportation, aviation, defense, and environmental issues. Over the years Ms. McEntee has maintained strong relationships with China and was designated as an economic partner by China’s National Development and Reform Commission. Working with her vast array of Chinese relationships, Ms. McEntee has successfully assisted companies in raising their visibility, resolving problems, and expanding production.
Hu Dingyi, Winner of the 2023 Zhejiang University/China-Europe-America Youth Program International Communication Challenge. She majors in Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies at Zhejiang University. She won the first prize of the 2022 Zhejiang Provincial English Public Speaking Contest, the national second prize of the 2022 "FLTRP·ETIC Cup" English Public Speaking Contest and the national grand prize of an online English public speaking contest. She was the Best Storyteller of the "Tell the World" Conference. She also works as a docent at Zhejiang University Museum of Art and Archaeology and a course designer of a community education project "Benlai".
Louis Godart is an archeologist. He is a member of the Accademia dei Lincei – founded in 1603, and a member of the French Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres – founded in 1663. He has been the cultural advisor of three Italian Presidents, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (1920-2016), Giorgio Napolitano, and Sergio Mattarella.
Yu Xinzhong is a doctor of history of Nankai University and a postdoctoral fellow of Kyoto University in Japan. Currently, he is an outstanding professor and Dean of the School of History of Nankai University. He is also the vice president and Secretary General of the Chinese Society of Social History. He has written five works such as The Epidemics and Society in Jiangnan during Qing Dynasty: A Study on the Social History of Medical Treatment and Public Health and Epidemic Prevention Mechanisms in Qing Dynasty and Their Evolution in Modern China, and published more than one hundred papers in journals such as Historical Research. He was selected as a young scholar and distinguished professor of Cheung Kong Scholars Program. He won the National Excellent Doctoral Thesis Award, the first and second prizes of the National Humanities and Social Sciences Outstanding Achievement Award.
