French Jesuit Thierry Meynard SJ takes over as the International Director of The Beijing Center (TBC) from August 1, 2012.  He will succeed Fr Roberto Ribeiro SJ, who is stepping down after completing his three-year term as international director.

“I have seen TBC growing along the years into a unique place for teaching and research on China,” said Fr Meynard, who is a Professor in the Philosophy Department at Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China, where he has been teaching since 2006.  He is also Vice-director of the Research Center on the Introduction of Western Learning in China. 

“TBC has offered an in-depth knowledge of Chinese language, culture and society to hundreds of students, and the TBC alumni are today engaged in China in many different ways. We shall continue our mission to provide a rigorous training in understanding China and to foster academic exchanges between China and the world.”

Fr Meynard first arrived in China in 1988 and brings with him enormous experience through his work in higher education and life in China, in understanding Chinese culture and bridging Chinese and Western cultures. 

He obtained a PhD in Chinese philosophy from Peking University in 2003.  His publications include The Religious Philosophy of Liang Shuming, The Hidden Buddhist, Confucius Sinarum Philosophus (1687), and The First Translation of the Confucian Classics.  He was the editor of Liang Shuming’s Thought and Its Reception, and Teilhard and the Future of Humanity.

The Beijing Center was founded in 1998 by Fr Ron Anton SJ, who ran the centre for a decade before passing the reins to Fr Ribeiro. Initially conceived as a standard Study Abroad Programme, TBC has expanded in unexpected directions, into scholarship, publications, a varied menu of programmes.

TBC makes its resources available to students seeking to study in Beijing, to scholars seeking to explore the history and culture of China as it relates to other cultures, and to professionals seeking to understand and to build relationships with contemporary China.

To find out more about The Beijing Center, go to www.thebeijingcenter.org.

You can also watch an interview Fr Ribeiro gave to Fr John Guiney SJ, Director of Jesuit Missions in Ireland, at the centre in July 2011.

Top photo: L to R: Incoming chairperson Mr Bill McCahill, Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific President Fr Mark Raper SJ, incoming International Director Fr Thierry Meynard SJ, and outgoing Director Fr Roberto Ribeiro SJ.