Founded in 1851, Northwestern University is a private institution and one of the best universities in America. According to America's Best Colleges 2007 by the US New and World Report, Northwestern University was ranked 14th among national universities in America. Its Kellogg School of Business was ranked 4th among America's 2007 top business schools by the US News. Its Medill School of Journalism is one of the best J-schools in America. Recently Yong Tang, People's Daily Washington-based correspondent, did an exclusive written interview with Henry S. Bienen, President of Northwestern University.

Henry S. Bienen, President of Northwestern University

Yong Tang: Why is American higher education so strong and unchallengeable in the world?

Bienen: American higher education is strong but not unchallengeable in the World. There are challenges from Europe and increasingly from India and China. American higher education is strong for many reasons. Here are my main ones: American higher education brings together teaching and research, teaching is a serious component for major research universities; American higher education is very open, we look for the best students and faculty wherever they come from, our campuses are open for free discussion of all ideas; Up till now, both private donors and the Federal Government have been very generous in financial support for higher education.

Yong Tang: How does American foreign policy affect American higher education?

Bienen: I do not think US foreign policy should steer higher education. Even where the US has poor relations with a particular country, it is important for our universities to be open to dialogue and to host visitors and students. Of course, higher education institutions must be aware of national security concerns. In the late 1950's the National Defense Education Act funded new emphases on science, engineering, math, and critical languages and I hope the new American Competitive Initiative will do the same.

Yong Tang: How did you become Northwestern University President? How does the University make sure the process of selecting the future president is fair and transparent?

Bienen: I became President of Northwestern University through a search led by our Board of Trustees. The search committee had faculty and student members, as well. Private universities have less transparent selection processes than do public universities. To my mind, private universities have a great advantage here.

Yong Tang: You are a political scientist with interests in political and economic development, comparative politics, civil-military relations and U.S. foreign policy. With this background, what is your advantage and disadvantage of being the President?

Bienen: I came to Northwestern with a mandate from the Board of Trustees to further internationalize Northwestern. My experience living in Africa, working in the Middle East, and in Mexico, and having experience in Russia and China gave me ideas, contacts, and experiences of other countries and institutions.

Yong Tang: It seems most of top university presidents have a background in humanities and social sciences. Why?

Bienen:I do not think most presidents of major universities come from the humanities and social sciences. Many come from law and increasingly from the sciences. This has to do with the growing impact of the sciences at major universities.

Yong Tang: How do you raise money for the University?

Bienen: How do I raise money for the university? I spend much time and effort fundraising. But we have a good story to tell to loyal friends and alumni. I find telling our story fun to do.

Yong Tang: How does the University admit students? How can you make sure the process of admission is transparent and fair?

Bienen: We have a professional admissions office, which processes about 20,000 applications for 2,000 places. The process is fair, but it is not transparent.

Yong Tang: According to the New York Times, Harvard University, breaking with a major trend in college admissions, says it will eliminate its early admissions program next year, with university officials arguing that such programs put low-income and minority applicants at a distinct disadvantage in the competition to get into selective universities. Harvard will be the first of the nation's prestigious universities to do away completely with early admissions. How do you think of Harvard's decision? Is Northwestern one of the universities with early admissions? What is your plan on that?

Bienen: We continue to have early admissions. Unlike Harvard which used to take a significant percent of its class from "early admits," Northwestern takes less than one quarter from early admits.

We find our pool of students in early admission and the regular admission to be similar by race and income. So we do not think we harm any category of students by having early admission. We will continue to look at our admissions process, however.

Yong Tang: How do you make sure that disqualified students will never be admitted no matter how much their parents donated to the school?

Bienen: We have a professional admissions staff.

Yong Tang: One day after Michigan voters approved Proposal 2, University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman addressed the University by saying that, "I am deeply disappointed that the voters of our state have rejected affirmative action as a way to help build a community that is fair and equal for all, but we will not be deterred in the all-important work of creating a diverse, welcoming campus. We will not be deterred.�� Why did Mary Sue Coleman make such a strong statement? Why is diversity so important for American universities?

Bienen: I strongly believe that diversity is important for all students because a diverse campus is a more interesting, exciting, and culturally and intellectually stimulating campus.

Yong Tang: What kind of financial aid will be given to students who are excellent but extremely poor?

Bienen: We provide "need blind�� admission. Our processes involve admitting a student and later, when we know financial needs, providing enough financial support so that any student admitted to Northwestern University can afford to attend.

Yong Tang: How can a teacher become a tenured professor? Who has the final say on whether a teacher could become a tenured professor or not? How can you make sure this process is transparent and fair?

Bienen: I cannot comment in detail on our tenure process. By its nature, and for legal reasons, it is not transparent, nor should it be. Teaching, research, and service all count in the decision. Various committees recommend candidates to the deans of schools and the file moves up to the provost and to me if the committees and deans are positive about the case.

Yong Tang: What is the punishment for students, professors and administrators who break the rules? How would he be punished if a student cheated in a test or a professor copies other colleagues' ideas?

Bienen: Yes, students and professors are punished for cheating and plagiarism. There are judicial processes for each category.

Yong Tang: How does Northwestern University compete with other top universities in America?

Bienen: We compete by trying to attract the best students and professors and staff to Northwestern and by having exciting programs and excellent people here.

Yong Tang: What is your plan to cope with the reality of globalization in higher education today? How many Chinese students are there at Northwestern today? Do you have any plans to attract more Chinese students to study at Northwestern? Do you have any plans to send more American students to China?

Bienen: On globalization. We have increased the number of foreign students from 1%-2% of our undergraduate body to around 6%-7% over the last decade. For a long time we have had a large body of graduate students from abroad, above 20%. We recruit the best faculty we can, no matter their places of origin.

We have programs with many universities abroad especially via our business school. (Hong Kong Science and Technology, Beida). We have business school programs in Thailand, Germany, Israel, and Canada. We are involved with the India School of Business in Hyderabad and IIT in Bombay. We attract Latin America executives to a campus we have in Miami. Our Law School has many students from abroad. Our PhD programs have over 20% foreign students.

We are considering campuses abroad. Our current enrollment of Chinese students at Northwestern is 11 undergraduate students, and 296 graduate and professional students. We are sending many students to Beijing on a public health program.