Dear Colleagues, Students and Alumni,

Seasonal Greetings from the Rector's Office!

This joyous festive season is a good time for me to tell you that we are in full swing for several upcoming significant events of the University of Macau.

Among all, the greatest highlight is the Groundbreaking Ceremony of the New Campus of the University of Macau. The ceremony will be held on 20 Dec 2009 on the new campus site in Hengqin, China. It will be attended by VIPs from the Central and Macao Governments, the local community, and representatives of our academic staff, students and university management. To celebrate this historic event, we have also invited our faculty, staff and students to gather together in the East Asia Hall 9/F Plaza on the evening of 20 Dec 2009 at 6:30 p.m. to celebrate the start of our campus construction. I hope you will all take part in this celebration as your witness, enthusiasm and support play a crucial role in taking these giant steps on the road to building a first-class university.

Following the Groundbreaking Ceremony, the University of Macau will also host the Cross-strait University Summit on 21 Dec 2009. Presidents from renowned universities including Peking University, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, National Taiwan University and many others, will gather at our University for the summit. It is our hope that the summit will serve as a platform for communication between universities in the cross-strait region so that the higher education of the four districts can play a greater role in the Greater China Region, the Asia-Pacific Region and the world.

All these events not only mark the highlights of the year, but also offer an enticing glimpse of the future development of the University of Macau. Please visit our newly launched website of the University of Macau for more information.

I am delighted to spend my first Christmas here in Macao. The whole year has been truly eventful, exciting and rewarding. Together with my very supportive and diligent team in the Rector's Office, let us wish you all a memorable celebration of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of Macao SAR, a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Yours sincerely,

Wei Zhao
Rector