Confucius Institutes at U.S. Institutions of Higher Education

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Foreign-funded language and culture institutes exist on U.S. campuses beyond Confucius Institutes (CIs)—Chinese government-funded centers established by the Chinese Communist Party to extend the reach of Chinese language and culture and to enhance worldwide opinion of China through offering classes in Mandarin Chinese and highlighting positive aspects of Chinese culture. Regardless of the sponsoring nation, foreign-funded language and culture institutes may pose risks for U.S. host institutions regarding academic freedom, freedom of expression, governance, and national security. This is particularly true if the values of the sponsoring nation do not align with the democratic values held in the United States and if the sponsoring nation is suspected of engaging in activities adversely affecting human rights, academic freedom, freedom of expression, association, dissent, and U.S. national security.

This report explores the role of other foreign-funded institutes at U.S. institutions of higher education, describing characteristics and features of such institutes; determining characteristics and features of foreign-funded institutes at U.S. institutions of higher education that could be flags for institutions to engage in further deliberation and vetting prior to entering into a partnership; identifying implementable practices for U.S. institutions of higher education to ensure appropriate operations; and continuing exploration of what role the sensitivity of the research conducted on campus should play in determining which foreign-funded partnerships are appropriate. Foreign-Funded Language and Culture Institutes at U.S. Institutions of Higher Education recommends actions that U.S. colleges and universities can take to minimize risks associated with hosting foreign-funded language and culture institutions, such as a CI, on or near campus and protect academic freedom and national security.

Publication information

106 pages · 6 x 9 · paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-70388-3
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-70389-1
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17226/27065

Suggested citation

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Foreign-Funded Language and Culture Institutes at U.S. Institutions of Higher Education: Practices to Assess and Mitigate Risk. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

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Philip J. Hanlon

Phil Hanlon is President and Professor of Mathematics at Dartmouth College. He is an experienced academic leader having served as Provost at the University of Michigan prior to assuming his current role. Hanlon has been an active leader within the US academy and is currently serving as chair of the COFHE Board of Directors and chair of the Ivy President’s Council. For the past five years, Hanlon has served the NRC as a member of the Policy and Global Affairs Committee. As a mathematician, his research interests are in Algebraic Combinatorics and Discrete Probability. During his academic career he has received numerous awards for his research and teaching including a Presidential Young Investigator Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Sloan Fellowship, a Thurnau Professorship at the University of Michigan as well as membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Dartmouth College and a PhD in Mathematics from the California Institute of Technology.

Jayathi Y. Murthy

Jayathi Y. Murthy is president and professor of mechanical, industrial, and manufacturing engineering at Oregon State University. She previously served as the Ronald and Valerie Sugar Dean of the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Murthy has worked in both industry and academia, including a decade as one of the early employees of Fluent Inc., a leading vendor of computational fluid dynamics software. She directed the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Center for Prediction of Reliability, Integrity, and Survivability of Microsystems, or PRISM, between 2008 and 2014. Dr. Murthy’s expertise is in computational fluid dynamics and heat transfer, and most recently, her work has focused on submicron thermal transport and uncertainty quantification in multiscale multiphysics systems. She is the author of more than 300 technical publications and is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions, including the ASME Heat Transfer Memorial Award in 2016. She was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering in 2020. Dr. Murthy received her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, her M.S. degree from Washington State University, and a B.Tech. from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India.

Hannah L. Buxbaum

Hannah Buxbaum is Vice President for International Affairs at Indiana University. She is also Professor of Law and John E. Schiller Chair at IU’s Maurer School of Law, where she previously held leadership roles including as interim dean (2012-2014). As Vice President she advances global engagement across IU’s seven campuses, including at the Bloomington campus, which hosts 3 Department of Defense-funded Language Flagship Programs (Arabic, Chinese, Russian) and 18 Department of Education Title VI programs, 8 of which are designated as National Resource Centers. She oversees the offices that manage international admissions and student services, study abroad, international partnerships, and international development, as well as the university’s five Global Gateway offices. Buxbaum serves on the Fulbright Scholar CIES Advisory Board and the AIEA’s Public Policy Committee, and is currently chair of the Big Ten Academic Alliance’s Senior International Officer group. Buxbaum is an elected member of the American Law Institute and the International Academy of Comparative Law, and in 2019 was appointed as the U.S. member of the Curatorium of the Hague Academy of International Law. She holds a B.A. from Cornell University, a J.D. from Cornell Law School, and an LL.M. from the University of Heidelberg.

Claude R. Canizares

Canizares is Bruno Rossi Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has served as Vice President (2013-2015), Vice President for Research & Associate Provost (2006-2013), Associate Provost (2001-2006), and Director of the Center for Space Research (1990-2002). He oversaw MIT Lincoln Laboratory and MIT’s international engagements. He is a principal investigator on NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and studies X-ray sources including active stars, black-hole or neutron star binaries, supernova remnants, quasars and clusters of galaxies. His service outside MIT has included the Department of Commerce’s National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the National Research Council’s (NRC) Committees on Science, Technology and the Law, Science Security and Prosperity and Federal Regulations and Reporting Requirements. He served as chair of the NRC’s Space Studies Board and was a member of the NASA Advisory Council, the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, and the board of Associated Universities, Inc., among others. He served as a member of the L-3 Technologies, Inc. (now L3Harris) Board of Directors (2003-2019). He currently serves on the Hubble Space Telescope Institute Council, NRC’s Air Force Studies Board, and chairs the Audit Committee of the National Academy of Sciences among others. Professor Canizares is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the International Academy of Astronautics and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the American Physical Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His awards include Decoration for Meritorious Civilian Service to the United States Air Force, the Goddard medal, the Basic Sciences Award of the International Academy of Astronautics, and two NASA Public Service Medals.

Robert L. Daly

Robert Daly directs the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States at the Wilson Center. He previously directed the University of Maryland China Initiative and served as American Director of the Johns Hopkins University-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies in Nanjing. He began work in U.S.-China relations as Cultural Exchanges Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. After leaving the Foreign Service, he taught Chinese at Cornell, worked on television and theater projects in China, and helped produce the Chinese-language version of Sesame Street. He is a director of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and American Mandarin Society and a member of the Task Force on U.S. China Policy. Mr. Daly has testified before Congress and his analysis is featured on NPR, C-Span, CNBC, and the Voice of America. He has interpreted for Chinese and American leaders, including Jiang Zemin and Henry Kissinger, and has lived in China for 12 years.

Peter K. Dorhout

Dr. Peter K. Dorhout serves as Professor of Chemistry and Vice President for Research at Iowa State University and an Ames Laboratory Affiliate. Prior to coming to ISU, he served five years as Vice President for Research following four years as dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at Kansas State University. He served 20 years at Colorado State University as Vice Provost for Graduate Studies, Interim Director of International Programs, and Professor of Chemistry. He has served as a collaborator at Los Alamos National Laboratory since 1987. He has led professional organizations as a member of the Boards of Directors for the American Chemical Society, where he was the 2018 President and the Research Corporation for Science Advancement. He is a recognized expert in solid state and nuclear materials chemistry as well as a project advisor with the Russian Federal Nuclear Center through the CRDF. He earned a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and served as a postdoctoral scientist at Ames Lab at Iowa State. His list of professional awards includes Fellow of the ACS, Fellow of the AAAS, Research Corporation Cottrell Scholar, A. P. Sloan Foundation Fellow, and the ACS-ExxonMobil Faculty Award in Solid State Chemistry.

Melissa L. Flagg

Melissa Flagg is the founder of Flagg Consulting LLC, as well as a fellow at the Acquisition Innovation Research Center (AIRC), a visiting fellow at the Perry World House at UPenn, and a senior advisor to the Atlantic Council GeoTech Center. Prior to this, she was a Senior Fellow at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) at Georgetown University. Previously she served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research, responsible for policy and oversight of Defense Department science and technology programs. She has worked at the State Department, the Office of Naval Research, the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Army Research Laboratory. Dr. Flagg has served on numerous boards including the National Academy of Sciences Air Force Studies Board (2014-2015) and the Department of Commerce Emerging Technology Research Advisory Committee. She holds a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and a B.S. in Pharmacy.

Mary Gallagher

Mary E. Gallagher is the Amy and Alan Lowenstein Professor of Democracy, Democratization, and Human Rights Professor at the University of Michigan where she is also the director of the International Institute. She was the director of the Kenneth G. Lieberthal and Richard H. Rogel Center for Chinese Studies from 2008-2020. Dr. Gallagher’s most recent book is Authoritarian Legality in China: Law, Workers and the State, published by Cambridge University Press in 2017. She is also the author or editor of several other books, including Contagious Capitalism: Globalization and the Politics of Labor in China (Princeton 2005). In 2022-24, Dr. Gallagher will be a Fulbright Global Scholar on a new research project that examines how economic engagement with China has affected domestic public opinion toward globalization. In addition to her academic research, Dr. Gallagher has consulted with governments, international organizations, and corporations on China’s domestic politics, labor and workplace conditions, and urbanization policies. She received her Ph.D. in politics in 2001 from Princeton University and her B.A. from Smith College in 1991.

Jenny J. Lee

Dr. Jenny J. Lee is a Professor of Higher Education and Dean’s Fellow for Internationalization at the University of Arizona. She is co-editor of the book series, Studies in Global Higher Education. She formerly served as a NAFSA Senior Fellow, US Fulbright Scholar to South Africa, the Chair for the Council of International Higher Education and Board of Directors for the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE). She is currently the Vice President Elect for the Postsecondary Education Division of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). Her research focuses on the internationalization of higher education, based on her comparative research in the US, Southern Africa, and East Asia. Her latest research focuses on how geopolitics shape global science, which is covered in her award-winning edited book, U.S. Power in International Higher Education, published by Rutgers University Press in 2021. She earned her PhD in Higher Education and Organizational Change at the University of California, Los Angeles, in 2002.

Ivett A. Leyva

Dr. Ivett A. Leyva became the head of the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University in September 2021. Previously, she was at the Air Force for 15 years. She was the program officer for Hypersonic Aerodynamics at the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, AFRL and prior to that she was a researcher at the AFRL Rocket Lab working on liquid rocket instabilities. Her technical expertise is in hypersonic aerodynamics and liquid rocket engines. While at the Air Force Ivett also worked on the protection of basic and applied research. Ivett holds a bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree from Caltech. She has six patents and has authored numerous papers and two book chapters. She is a fellow of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Air Force Research Laboratory, a National Associate of the National Research Council of the National Academies, and a recipient of a Civilian Achievement Medal and two meritorious Civilian Service Awards and Medals from the Air Force. Ivett has participated in four NRC reports and was a member of the ASEB for 6 years.

Elizabeth D. Peloso

Elizabeth Peloso is the Associate Vice President and Associate Vice Provost for Research Services at the University of Pennsylvania (UPENN). In addition to managing UPENN’s federal, other government, and foundation research portfolio, she oversees UPENNs compliance program for export controls, and her office is leading Penn’s efforts to implement a research security program. Prior to her time at UPENN, Elizabeth established the University of Delaware’s research compliance program, including export controls. Elizabeth has deep expertise in the management of export control compliance at universities including the establishment of policy, training, technology controls as applicable and effective practices. Additionally, she has extensive experience in research contracting and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements. Elizabeth currently serves on the Board of the Council on Governmental Relations, chairing the Research Security and Intellectual Property Committee. She is a past Chair of the Association of University Export Control Officers and remains active in the organization. With a background in engineering and business, as well as years of experience in research laboratories, Elizabeth brings a practical solution seeking approach to research compliance.

Anna B. Puglisi

Anna Puglisi is the Director of Biotechnology Programs and Senior Fellow at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET). Previously she served as the National Counterintelligence Officer for East Asia, advising senior U.S. and foreign government officials at the highest levels, academia and the private sector on counterintelligence (CI) issues. As a member of the Senior Analytic Service, she developed multidisciplinary efforts to understand global technology developments and their impact on U.S. competitiveness and national security, as well as efforts to target U.S. technology. She has received numerous awards including the FBI Director’s Award for Excellence. Anna holds an MPA, an MS in environmental science and a BA in Biology with honors, all from Indiana University. She studied at the Princeton in Beijing Chinese language school and was a visiting scholar in Nankai University’s Department of Economics, where she studied China’s S&T policies, infrastructure development and university reforms. She is a co-author of the 2013 study Chinese Industrial Espionage, the first book-length treatment of the topic, as well as countless related proprietary studies.

Jeffrey M. Riedinger

As Vice Provost of Global Affairs at the University of Washington (2013 to present), Dr. Riedinger has leadership and administrative responsibility for the University’s diverse global programming including support for international research, study abroad, student and faculty exchanges, and overseas centers. As part of his responsibilities, Dr. Riedinger served as Director of the Confucius Institute of the State of Washington (CIWA) from 2014 to 2020. Dr. Riedinger also serves on the faculty of the University of Washington School of Law. He previously served as Dean of International Studies and Programs (2005-2013) and faculty member (1990-2013) at Michigan State University. An expert on the political economy of land reform, Dr. Riedinger has carried out research in East, South, and Southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, Central America, and the Middle East. From 1996 to 2018, he was involved in research on rural land rights in China in collaboration with colleagues at Landesa, a U.S.-based non-profit, and at Renmin University in China. Dr. Riedinger has conducted briefings on foreign aid, land reform, and international education issues for members of the White House staff, Department of State and USAID personnel, and members of Congress. His publications include two books and numerous articles, chapters, reviews, and monographs. Dr. Riedinger is immediate past-President of NAFSA: Association of International Educators. Dr. Riedinger earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Dartmouth College, a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Washington, and a Ph.D. in Public and International Affairs from Princeton University.

C. R. Verret

Dr. C. Reynold Verret is the 6th President of Xavier University of Louisiana. Prior to his 2015 investiture as President, Dr. Verret served as provost and chief academic officer for Savannah State University. Previously, he served also as provost at Wilkes University in Pennsylvania and as Dean and Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. Dr. Verret also served on faculty at Tulane University and Clark Atlanta University. Dr. Verret’s research interests have included the cytotoxicity of immune cells, biosensors and biomarkers. He has published in the fields of biochemistry and immunology, and also collaborated on matters of social exclusion and health. Throughout, Dr. Verret has worked to increase the number of US students pursuing degrees in STEM disciplines and continuing to advanced study. This includes development of qualified science and math teachers in K-12. Dr. Verret received his undergraduate degree cum laude in biochemistry from Columbia University and the Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. To these, were added postdoctoral experiences as fellow at the Howard Hughes Institute for Immunology at Yale and the Center for Cancer Research at MIT.

Webinar

Confucius Institutes at U.S. Institutions of Higher Education: Committee Meeting #5

June 22, 2022

11:00 AM - 4:00 PM (ET)

Past

Agenda

Download the Agenda

About

This is the third open session of the Confucius Institutes at U.S. Institutions of Higher Education Study. We will hear from speakers with higher education and Chinese/international affairs expertise. This will be followed by a closed session to plan next steps. The public is able to attend the virtual open session webinar; please contact srovito@nas.edu for details.

Additional Information

Is it a Closed Session event?

Partially Closed

The following committee members were present at the closed sessions of the event

Philip J. Hanlon; Jayathi Y. Murthy; Hannah L. Buxbaum; Claude R. Canizares; Peter K. Dorhout; Melissa L. Flagg; Mary Gallagher; Ivett A. Leyva; Jeffrey M. Riedinger; C. Reynold Verret

The following topics were discussed in the closed sessions:

gathered information and perspectives on Confucius Institutes, international education and partnerships, and research security during the open session; discussed report content and writing, information gathering, and existing waiver criteria during closed session

Date of posting of Closed Session Summary:

June 24, 2022

Contact

Sarah Rovito

srovito@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

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Confucius Institutes at U.S. Institutions of Higher Education

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Featured publication

Foreign-Funded Language and Culture Institutes at U.S. Institutions of Higher Education: Practices to Assess and Mitigate Risk

Description

Collaborators

Committee

Sponsors

Staff

Major units and sub-units

Contact

Provide feedback

Request materials

More like this

Modernizing Mathematics Education for Grades 9-14

Health Care Financing to Improve Availability of Affordable Contraception: Identifying Promising Practices

Review of Methods in the Report on Carcinogens Handbook

National Cooperative Highway Research Program

Transit Cooperative Research Program

Modernizing Mathematics Education for Grades 9-14

Modernizing Mathematics Education for Grades 9-14

Prevention of and Response to Sexual Harassment in Higher Education: Tools for Department Chairs and Principal Investigators: A Workshop

Enhancing the Reach and Contributions of Informal STEM Learning