From the Chancellor at UW-Whitewater

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Dear Chancellor Telfer,

I just returned from a sixteen day trip to China where I worked very closely with one of your faculty, Dr. Guoli Liang. His work was so inspiring and impressive that I wanted to share a few thoughts with you about him and his activities.

Guoli and I have been working together for over a year in preparing an edited book for the People’s Education Press (PEP) in Beijing. Dr. Liang initially approached me with the idea for the book and asked me to be the co-editor along with an executive from PEP.

Working together, Guoli and I were able to negotiate a trip to China to disseminate information about the book’s content and its upcoming publication. This book is an introduction to our area of expertise, human motor development. Hence, as an eventual part of our agreement with PEP, a group of our chapter authors were hosted in China. Through this book, the associated travel activities, and the contributions of Dr. Liang, we believe we had the potential to make historic academic contributions to our discipline in China.

Throughout this process, Guoli and his contributions were remarkable. Much of his initial work was behind the scenes. As an example, he provided editing for chapter sections that were written in Chinese. He also completed most of the translations for the seventeen chapters. His early work also included translations of an extensive Power Point presentation we prepared for use in China. Just as important, Guoli was instrumental in working with PEP to organize our efforts in China. Our original plans were for a small group of American motor development experts to visit a few different locations in China.

Thanks to Guoli’s influence and efforts, ten experts, including Guoli, traveled to fifteen or more sites throughout many different provinces.

In short, through a series of presentations at the likes of Beijing University, Beijing Normal University, the 8th China National Sports Sciences Convention, University of Hong Kong and many more, we were able to introduce the field of human motor development to literally thousands of people. This occurred through a planned effort to send four groups of our scholars in four different directions across China following a few days of joint efforts in Beijing. We were all amazed at the complexity of the planning that was required for this trip. The brunt of this work was completed by Dr. Liang. In addition to the maze of travel plans, Guoli organized Chinese college students to accompany our experts on their travels. The students also served as translators for our presentations. Though the students were skilled in English, Guoli spent hours with them practicing the presentations, so they would be familiar with the technical jargon of our discipline. These students were hand selected by Guoli, and they were simply delightful. They were professional, smart, capable, responsible, pleasant, polite, and a joy to be around.

Perhaps even more impressive was Guoli’s character, demeanor, and professionalism throughout this endeavor. He was always immediately responsive to our requests for information, and despite being in a situation that would be stressful to many, he always remained calm while maintaining a personable, genuine, and pleasant approach.

I also saw Guoli present on a number of occasions during our trip. Though I do not understand Mandarin Chinese, I recognize when an audience is held in rapt attention throughout a talk. I know when numbers of attendees approach the podium at the end of a talk, they are interested and have been compelled to know more. Guoli clearly has a way with words. I can only imagine what a great teacher he must be.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I saw Dr. Liang interact with University Presidents, corporate executives, colleagues, students, and people of all walks while in China. He was a terrific emissary and representative for your university and our profession. He has a personal engaging style that attracts others. Within minutes he made those around him feel comfortable. I enjoyed watching Guoli create bonding relationships with people of all walks wherever we went in China. He is a wonderful representative for the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater and the field of motor development and pedagogy.

In short, you should be very proud to have a faculty member of this caliber in your university. I know I am proud to call him a colleague. He is an excellent representative with the potential to do much more of this and other kinds of academic work. He certainly made an outstanding contribution to both the written, spoken, and travel portion of this project, and I look forward to working with him again in the future. Thank you.

Greg Payne, PED

Acting Associate Dean                                                                                   

College of Applied Sciences and Arts                                                             

San Jose State University                                                                            

San Jose, CA 95192-0049