The celebratory events for the 100^th anniversary eventually reached a climax on Sunday April 24^th, the exact founding date of Tsing Hua and the 55^th anniversary of the reestablishment of National Tsing Hua University. In addition to a large group of alumni who came back from different parts of the world, many celebrities, such as President Ma Ying-Jeou, Premier Wu Den-Yih and Mr. Wang Jin-Pyng, Speaker of the Legislative Yuan all made a special trip to Hsinchu for this joyous occasion.

To open the ceremony, President Lih J. Chen first thanked all the guests for their cordial participation in this grand event and went on to reflect on the efforts Tsing Hua has made, over the last century, to build and advance the university from its modest beginning to one of the best universities in the Chinese-speaking region and a world-class university as well. Such a stellar record is clearly exemplified by the first rate faculty members who taught at Tsing Hua and the excellent talents that these great scholars have helped to cultivate both in China and Taiwan. The list of our distinguished faculty and famous alumni who have made great contributions in all walks of life is long and simply impressive. As a group they constituted a major portion of the Who's Who in the modern history of Taiwan and China.

Over the last 55 years, there have been many NTHU faculty members and alumni who have served as leaders in government, academic, industrial and business sectors. For example, one of our former presidents, Dr. Chao-Shuan Liu was appointed by President Ma as the first Premier when he was elected to the Presidency in 2008. Sixteen of our faculty members won the top academic honor in our country by being elected as Academicians at Academia Sinica. Another sixteen professors were endowed with National Chair Professorships by the Ministry of Education (MOE). Likewise, 41 of our professors won the top research achievement awards administered also by the MOE. Among the younger faculty, thirty-two of them won the Wu Ta-You Memorial Award by the National Science Council. As a group they represent the largest portion of faculty winning such prestigious awards among all the universities in Taiwan. As we look at the achievements of our alumni, we also see a truly impressive record. We have a Nobel Laureate and at least five hundred general-manager level business leaders who are presiding over the high-tech companies and play decisive roles in such emerging industries such as solar panels, LEDs and solar cells. President Chen also took the occasion to express his gratitude toward those alumni and business leaders who have made generous donations over the years. The substantial support from these benefactors has made it possible for NTHU to continue improving and innovating and placed us on the fast track to move up to the rank of world-class universities.

Prof. Shu-Gong Chu, a former Dean of Academic Affairs, is now 100 years old. He came to the grand celebration accompanied by his 97-year-old wife. President Chen came down from the stage to greet this elderly couple whose devotion to NTHU greatly moved all the audiences attending the ceremony and presented them with a memento especially designed to commemorate the 100^th anniversary.

President Ma had twice visited NTHU since assuming the Presidency but he said that he has noticed a big difference since his last visit. He congratulated NTHU for having become a world-class university with Nobel Laureates among its graduates and a group of outstanding alumni who excelled in different sectors of our society. NTHU, President Ma believes has beautifully fulfilled its mission to cultivate talents but, he also cautioned that the 21^st century is a time of fierce competition for talented people. We need not only to cultivate our own, we need also to find ways to engage and attract them internationally. The government has, therefore, set up a "Five-year Five Billion Project" to assist great universities such as NTHU; and, you have developed the "Teaching Excellence Project" as well as "Flexible Salary Plan," all in the hope to cultivate as well as attracting more talents to join your institution. The next stage, President Ma believes, is for the university to further internationalize its campus; to increase its international students from its current level of 3.3% to 10% in the nearest future. President Ma pointed out that the policies to attract overseas Chinese students had produced great results. Many students from Southeast Asia came and studied in Taiwan and then returned to their home countries and became leaders in their respective societies. As a group, these Taiwan-educated leaders have played important roles in shaping their countries' policies toward Taiwan and made great contribution toward our project to diversify and intensify our international ties with friendly countries in the region. For the same very reason, we should make all the necessary efforts to make Taiwan a center of higher education in the Asia Pacific area and attract more and more international students to NTHU to pursue their studies and become familiar with our culture and society.

President Ma went on and stated that it is his firm belief that internationalization does not necessarily imply going abroad. He cited the words of Mr. Obama, President of the United States, who said that "students are our best ambassadors." With foreign students on campus, there is a great opportunity to meet them and engage in meaningful cultural exchange with them, and thereby, gain a better understanding of their cultures.

Premier Den-Yih Wu praised NTHU's great contribution to Taiwan and to the world with a poem which read: "How beautiful Tsing Hua is; as you sow, so you reap; great talents appear successively; you have alumni everywhere." Although he is not an NTHU alumnus, he pledges to be one of NTHU's friends forever.

Speaker Jin-Pyng Wang praised NTHU for inheriting the best traditions of Tsing Hua and rapidly developing into a major academic center in Taiwan. He identified the important academic role that NTHU has played in the field of higher education, and noted its close connections with the industrial, academic and research sectors which enable NTHU to support companies in the Hsinchu Science Park. He said that the students at NTHU have clearly demonstrated their humanistic concerns, and many of NTHU alumni are leaders in various areas contributing greatly to the development of the overall economy and national prestige of Taiwan.

Mr. Zi-Chang Tseng, Director-General of the Alumni Association, first expressed his gratitude to the alumni on behalf of the university. He said that the fund-raising program organized by NTHU to build a multi-functional gymnasium to celebrate the 100^th anniversary had been more successful than expected; both in terms of the number of donors and the amount raised. This kind of generosity comes from the hearts of alumni, and it is hoped such strong and loyal support will empower NTHU to further advance its excellence.

The celebration luncheon was hosted by artist Ms. Nai-Xin Ko. She cheerfully and humorously presented guests who had donated more than one million NT with plaques of appreciation. The NTHU Chamber Ensemble, the Seagull-K Vocal Band, and Chia Di, a member of the THU delegation, also a prizing-winning singer, all performed at the luncheon.

Another event at the centennial celebration was the inauguration of the Learning Resources Center (Macronix Building). Mr. Min-Qiu Wu, the current president of Macronix International Co. Ltd. and Mr. Ding-Hau Hu, a former president of the same company, attended this ceremony. President Chen expressed his deep appreciation of MXIC's sponsorship and of the hard work of all engineers, project managers, construction team and individuals in university administrative units. He said that it is due to their efforts that the Learning Resources Center Macronix Building could be inaugurated as scheduled.

To celebrate the anniversary this year, a group of aboriginal students from the experimental class at PingPei Senior High School in Pingtung County, part of the Little Tsinghua Program, came to NTHU to partake the occasion. NTHU students warmly received and entertained these younger students at the Education Building. The young Tsing Hua students delighted the seniors with some of the cultural highlights of five aboriginal tribes, including the wedding ceremony and the stone house model of the Paiwan, and the Bunun's eight-part chorus.

On the large campus lawn, an eye-catching international carnival was also held. International students at NTHU, dressed in their national costumes added lots of color to the green lawn. The international students served various exotic snacks, and there were even some excited Panamanian students dancing spontaneously to the music. It was truly a picture of NTHU's cultural diversity.