On the morning of April 30^th, Hamilton, President of Oxford University, visited SJTU. As the guest of “Inspiration Lecture”, he gave a wonderful speech to the teachers and students on Minhang Campus of SJTU entitled From Yale to Oxford: World-Class Universities in the 21^st Century. Before the speech, President Zhang Jie cordially received the delegation led by President Hamilton and both parties talked friendly with each other on the cooperation between the two universities in the future.

In the New Building of Administration, President Zhang Jie and President Hamilton watched the video named SJTU Today together. On behalf of SJTU, President Zhang Jie extended warmest welcome to the visiting delegation led by President Hamilton and gave a brief introduction of the development of SJTU and cooperation between the two universities. President Zhang Jie and President Hamilton talked friendly on issues about mutual cooperation.

Teachers and students from SJTU have been looking forward to President Hamilton’s speech thus they came to the lecture hall very early. The Multifunctional Hall of the New Library was packed and even the passages on the two sides were filled with students.

Before President Hamilton gave the speech, President Zhang Jie made an opening speech. President Zhang Jie humorously mentioned that he had stayed in Oxford University for eight years thus perhaps he was more familiar with Oxford than President Hamilton. Now and then, the hall burst out applause and laughter. Zhang Jie said, as an internationally recognized scientist in organic synthetic chemistry, Hamilton was once the leader of several prestigious universities like Yale and Oxford and had rich experience in world-class university management.

"I’m very glad to visit this beautiful university. It’s a lovely day. Bright sunshine. Azure sky. As you know, Britain recently encounters some problems. I’m so happy to see so the crystal sky with no volcanic ashes.” President Hamilton’s humorous remarks made the atmosphere more amicable.

President Hamilton shared with the audience his experiences and understandings about world-class universities in the 21^st century. He pointed out that three qualities should be nurtured in order to succeed in academic career: love of scientific research, international education and research practice as well as the spirit of keeping moving. “If you want to succeed, you have to keep moving and never give up.” said Hamilton.

President Hamilton thought a world-class university should have four elements: outstanding professors and students, scientific research with open and international perspectives, high-quality education and adequate funds. Excellent talents are critical to a university. And a world-class university should be international enough to attract talents from all over the world. Much attention should be paid to breeding students’ critical thinking, courage to doubt and the spirit of making breakthroughs and promoting the development of science and technology. Meanwhile, students should nurture the habit of self-study and life-long learning. Taking Oxford University as an example, every student in Oxford is trained by the tutor in a one-to-one or one-to-two way. Students and tutors have a meeting once a week to discuss courses and programs. In such a way, students will be encouraged to study harder and their capabilities of thinking and solving problems independently will be improved. Besides, a world-class university needs rich funds.

After the speech, most of the students raised their hands to put up questions. When a student mentioned some students did not dare to question professors and asked Hamilton how to avoid following the authority blindly and nurture the spirit of critical thinking, President Hamilton replied that he liked students’ questioning very much. The university is a place where students should be taught to think independently and the objective of education is to lead students to independence. Each generation brings new perspectives to the world so students should put up new suggestions to professors. This is not merely a challenge to professors themselves but also a challenge against established thought or value.In the end, two presidents exchanged gifts. President Zhang Jie said the visit of President Hamilton in the first day of the vacation with such a wonderful speech was already a great gift in itself. He gave President Hamilton a Chinese painting as the present, on which two flowers stand for SJTU and Oxford University respectively implying that the two universities with a deep cultural foundation will continue strengthening the cooperation between each other and making the flower of friendship bloom with the common development.