July 30, 2010
HSU ACCOMPANIES FLORIDA HIGHER EDUCATION DELEGATION TO TAIWAN

Trip includes private meeting with childhood friend President Ma Ying-jeou

ORLANDO, Fla. (July 30, 2010) – C.T. Hsu + Associates President C.T. Hsu, FAIA, LEED AP, traveled to Taiwan on July 22-23 as part of a Florida delegation attending the second annual Florida-Taiwan Higher Education Conference. The 14-member Florida delegation included representatives from eight of the state’s universities and colleges.

A highlight of the trip, according to Hsu, was the delegation’s private meeting with Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou and Education Minister Wu Ching-ji at the Presidential Office in Taipei. “I am very proud to have known President Ma since our junior high school days,” said Hsu. “He has shown remarkable leadership in his support of international education, and I believe he will continue to successfully lead Taiwan into a bright future.”

Taiwan’s Ministry of Education established the Taiwan-Florida Scholarship in 2010, providing NT$10 million for students from cooperating universities to apply for admission to universities in Florida. President Ma shared with the Florida delegation his personal experience of traveling to the United States for three months as a university exchange student and returning to the U.S. after graduation to continue his studies. He added that international education and academic interaction can have a long lasting impact on students and hopes that the two countries’ academic exchanges will continue and spur greater internationalization of Taiwan's academic environment.

The focus of the annual conference is to enhance academic research cooperation and foster collaboration between higher education in Florida and Taiwan, and provide a forum for delegates to share experiences related to student exchange, dual degrees, joint degrees and research collaboration.
This year’s Florida-Taiwan Education Conference was jointly hosted by Taiwan’s Ministry of Education, the Foundation for International Cooperation in Higher Education of Taiwan (FICHET), and Tunghai University, located in Taichung, Taiwan.  The conference will return to Florida in 2011.

C.T. Hsu + Associates (www.cthsu.com) is an Orlando-based architectural planning and design firm that celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2009.  A past “Firm of the Year” as selected by the American Institute of Architects - Florida Association, CTH+A focuses on a mix of projects in the education, government, transportation and mixed-use development sectors.  Its multidisciplinary approach ranges from urban planning and design to architecture and interiors.