Centennial Publications

Centennial Brochure

The Centennial Brochure brings a joyous and hopeful message to the United Board’s donors, program alumni, faculty and students of our network institutions, and other friends and sponsors to join in a multiyear celebration of our history.

The brochure is an exquisite publication to whet the appetite for our Centennial festivities and encourage our supporters to stay tuned for more. On its cover, sturdy bamboos shoot up majestically into the sky in a canopy of bright light and blue sky – symbolizing the immense possibilities ahead and tying into our Centennial theme, “Great Expectations for Our Next Century of Service”.

The Centennial theme reflects the vision of our founders who were committed to introducing a new approach to higher education in Asia. It also describes the goals of the leaders and faculty of our network institutions who translate the principles of whole person education into practice. Great expectations have inspired our work for 100 years, and they will continue to guide us in our second century.

The United Board and China

The United Board and China (《亞聯董與中國 (1922–2018) 》) celebrates our 100th anniversary in 2022 by capturing nearly a century’s history of the United Board’s work to develop whole person education and serve Asian higher education.

Based on historical documents and the United Board’s archives, The United Board and China begins by tracing the United Board’s efforts to develop 13 Christian colleges and universities in China in its first three decades, which have since become legendary in Christian higher education in Asia. The book also outlines how we continue to work with Asian colleges and universities today to support faculty development, leadership development, and much more.

The United Board and China was written by Dr. Xu Bingsan ( 徐炳三博士) from Central China Normal University (CCNU) and Dr. Zhang Xiaoyu ( 張曉宇博士) from Shandong University. This publication was also made possible with the help of the late famous historian Professor Zhang Kaiyuan ( 章開沅教授) and the Institute of Modern Chinese History at CCNU. The CCNU’s involvement is especially meaningful because it was founded from one of the original Christian colleges supported by the United Board and remains one of our network institutions to this day.

The book is a timely and welcome completion of the trilogy of United Board chronicles that include William P. Fenn’s Ever New Horizons: The Story of The United Board For Christian Higher Education In Asia 1922–1975 (1980) and Paul T. Lauby’s Sailing on Winds of Change: Two Decades in the Life of the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia 1969–1990 (1996).