CHINESE CULTURAL FOUNDATION
Chinese Cultural Foundation Award Recipients of 2017
Peter Salovey, President of Yale University
Peter Salovey is the 23rd president of Yale University. He has received honorary degrees from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, National Tsing Hua University and Harvard University. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and to the National Academy of Medicine.
Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States.
Yale has graduated five U.S. Presidents, 19 U.S. Supreme Court Justices, 20 living billionaires, and many heads of state. In addition, Yale has graduated hundreds of members of Congress, and many high-level U.S. diplomats. 57 Nobel laureates, 78 MacArthur Fellows, 247 Rhodes Scholars, and 119 Marshall Scholars.
Yale University is the home of the Greenberg Conference Center, the Greenberg World Fellows Program and the Greenberg China Initiatives.
Chengyue Jiao, G.M. China Merchants Bank, New York
Established in 1987 and headquartered in Shenzhen, China. China Merchants Bank is China’s first joint-stock commercial bank and also the first bank to attend the national experiment for the promotion of China’s banking industry reform driven by endeavors from outside the government.
China Merchants Banks has grown with China’s economic progress from a small regional bank into the sixth-largest commercial bank listed on the Shanghai and Hong Kong Stock Exchange. As of the end of 2016, China Merchants Bank has134 branches, 1,628 sub-branches in more than 120 cities of Mainland China, 6 overseas branches and 3 overseas representative offices, with more than 70,000 employees.
A founding member and current General Manager of China Merchants Bank New York Branch (CMBNY), Mr. Chengyue Jiao, has not only witnessed but also put his heart and soul into the CMBNY's establishment and development since 2004. Almost 14 years' of hard work and have demonstrated that Mr. Jiao is a true entrepreneur and leader. CMBNY has grown to be one of the most creative and successful Chinese banks in the US, specializing in M&A Practice, Asset Management, and Private wealth management
China Merchants Bank also believes in being a good corporate citizen and an active member of the New York community. In this regard CMB recently sponsored the highly acclaimed Exhibition, "The Age of Empires” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This exhibit included many historically significant, and recently discovered treasures from the Qin and Han dynasties. As the very first Chinese corporate sponsor of the exhibit in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, CMB will always support the cultural and people-to-people exchange between China and the United States.
Dr. Ellen Qiongzhao Schicktanz
Ellen Qiongzhao Schicktanz, is an Asian American Artist, Doctor of Literature, President of the American Goddess Art Museum and Deputy Secretary-General of the Rodin International Artists Foundation. As she learned art from childhood, Mr. Gongliu Luo gave Ellen Qiongzhao the guidance of oil painting . She graduated from the Kyoto University of Art and Design, the Northwest University of China, Tokyo Waseda University of Japan and earned a doctorate in art history.
She has worked and assisted instructor Mr. Yoshimura in Buddhism art research and History of Eastern Art research for many years. She published more than twenty books (art, academic and poetry) and produced a wide range of effects. Some works of Buddhism art have been compiled into The East Culture Series (Japanese chapter) by Chinese scholar Mr. Xianlin Ji. Her oil paintings and sculpture works were often shown in International Exhibitions, including the United States, France, China, Japan, the United Nations. She also won many art awards, including the Japanese Fuji Art Award and the International Cultural Peace Prize. Her artworks have been collected by the Japanese Fuji Art Museum, American Revolutionary History Museum, The U.S. National Constitution Center and other public and private institutions, companies and foundations. Two large bronze relief sculptures and two large marble relief sculpture have become part of the landscape outside the buildings and square of Decorations of the United States.
More About The 2017 Honorees and Award Ceremony
The Chinese Cultural Foundation welcomed 300 distinguished guests to its 2017 Gala dinner at the Yale Club to celebrate its15th Anniversary and to announce the Maurice R. Greenberg Global Leadership Award.
John W. Allen, Co-Founder and Trustee of the Chinese Cultural Foundation greeted the guests and acknowledged the wonderful support of sponsors and their key role in making the event such a success. He then described the Maurice R. Greenberg Global Leadership Award and it’s ongoing significance in identifying and supporting others who follow in Mr. Greenberg’s giant footsteps. They will carry on his legacy of contributing to the betterment of our global society in so many ways and particularly in building strong relations between China and the United States. Mr. Allen also pointed out the Maurice R. Greenberg 2018 Commemorative Calendar which was presented as a gift to all attendees.
Elizabeth B. Wang, President and Co-Founder of the Chinese Cultural Foundation, provided a video retrospective of CCF’s 15 year history. It highlighted special events held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, at the Palace of Versailles in Paris, and at the United Nations and many other venues in the United States.
The highlight of the evening was a special Conversation with Maurice R. Greenberg, Chairman and CEO of C.V. Starr & Companies. Chinese Ambassador Zhang Qiyue, Consul General in New York and Yale University President Peter Salovey, on the importance of culture and education in China-U.S. relations.
Mr. Greenberg was delighted to receive the historic sculpture of ”Washington Crossing the Delaware” by renowned sculptress Dr. Ellen Qiong Zhao Schicktanz and a impressive Tiger painting by famous Chinese artist Xinle Ma.
Other distinguished guests included Ambassador Nicholas Platt, former President of the Asia Society, Ambassador James Woolsey, Former Director of the CIA, Ambassador Paul Speltz, former U.S. Representative of the Asia Development Bank, Steven A. Orlins, President of the National Committee on United Stated-China Relations，Florence Davis, President of the Starr Foundation, X.Rick Niu, President and CEO, of Starr Strategic Holdings, Chien Chung Pei, Partner of The Pei Architects, Steven Rockefeller, III, Prince Preeti Sriratana, Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia, and Mrs. Patricia Kluge.
Congratulatory messages were also received from Sir James D. Wolfensohn, former President of the World Bank, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo.
The Chinese Cultural Foundation's 2017 Awards were presented to Peter Salovey, President of Yale University, Chengyue Jiao, G.M. China Merchants Bank New York and Dr. Ellen Qiong Zhao Schicktanz for their outstanding contributions to fostering Chinese cultural and understanding.
This event held at the Yale Club is particularly appropriate given how significant Mr. Greenberg’s contributions have been to Yale through The Greenberg Conference Center, The Greenberg World Fellows Program and The Greenberg China Initiative.
The Chinese Cultural Foundation (“CCF”) is a New York based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Its mission is to share the understanding of China’s 5,000 year history and culture with the world. CCF believes that cultural events serve as a catalyst in bringing together leaders from various economic, social and political sectors to achieve their common goals.
The Maurice R. Greenberg Global Leadership Award is the centerpiece of the Chinese Cultural Foundation. It recognizes those individuals and organizations whose achievements reflect Mr. Greenberg’s ideals and global vision.