On the afternoon of November 24, 2016, Beijing Normal University Honorary Professorship Appointment Ceremony of Richard B. Freeman & the The 51st BNU Business School Celebrity Forum held. Richard B. Freeman, Herbert Ascherman Chair Professor in Economics at Harvard University, Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Science, Zhang Juwei, president of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Institute of Population and Labor Economics, Wang Dashu, the Professor of School of Economics, Peking University, Hu Biliang, the president of BNU Emerging Market Research Institute, Liu Lengxin, director of BNU International Education Cooperation Center, Sun Zhijun, Secretary of the Party Committee of the BNU Business School, Zhang Pingdan, Vice Dean of BNUBS, and Prof. Xing Chunbing and Associate Prof. Cai Hongbo attended the event which was presided over by Lai Desheng, Dean of BNUBS.

First of all, Dean Lai Desheng delivered a welcome speech and introduced the guests. He welcomed Professor Freeman’s coming to BNU and hoped that he would continue to care for and support the development of BNUBS. Then, connecting China’s reality, Professor Hu Biliang's introduced Professor Freeman's theoretical innovation and its significance to China, as well as his key to success. Subsequently, Ms. Liu Lengxin, the Director of the Center for International Education Cooperation of BNU, was invited to issue the letter of appointment to Professor Emmanuel Freeman and wear a school badge for him. Chen Xiao from BNUBS offered flowers to Professor Freeman.

 

In the 51st BNU Business School Celebrity Forum, Professor Freeman brought speech with the title of “Can China Use its Great Leap Forward in Science & Engineering to Innovate, Ameliorate Pollution, and Reduce the Rural-Urban Divide?” He points out that as China has become a giant in science and technology, the “leap development” in education and research which bring comparative advantages to innovate and the disseminate knowledge to China. But the success is accompanied by large-scale pollution, increased urban and rural gap, backward rural education and income. So, will China solve the current problems through innovation? Professor Freeman believes that the answer is yes and uses two ongoing experiments to fully prove it.

Zhang Juwei, the president of the Institute of Population and Labor Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, commented and discussed with Prof. Freeman on the transformation of innovation and innovation. Nearly 100 faculties and students from BNU also discussed heatedly.

In the end, Dean Lai Desheng concluded and pointed out that all the people witnessed this important moment, namely Professor Freeman’s being employed as the honorary professor of BNU, which means that we can listen to the voice of the master more closely, cultivate more excellent students and carry out higher level researches with his guidance and help. We hope that Professor Freeman will continue to come to Beijing to give lectures in BNU, which will benefit more teachers and students.

Introduction of Richard B. Freeman:

Richard B. Freeman, a world-renowned Economist, Herbert Ascherman Chair Professor in Economics at Harvard University, Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Science and senior fellow of Center for Economic Behavior Studies, London School of Economics. Professor Freeman has been working as a senior fellow in nearly all the world’s leading research institutions in the field of labor economics for more than half a century. He was awarded the Mincer Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006 and the IZA Labor Economics Award in 2007.