Pauline Dimond, the Australian Teacher in NPU, wins the 2011 Shannxi Friendship Award

NWPU News Network reported in December 7 that the working conference onthe introduction of overseas high-level talents by Shannxi province was held inXi’an yesterday. Pauline Dimond, the Australian Teacher in NWPU, had beeninvited to attend the conference and been honored with Shannxi FriendshipAward.

The conference participants also included Zhao Zhengyong, the Shannxigovernor, Zhang Jianguo, the vice minister of People club and the director ofnational foreign experts bureau, several related Shaanxi government departmentheads, the foreign experts with the Shannxi Friendship Award and some unitleaders.

Qing Zheng, the secretary of the people's government of Shaanxi provincehosted the conference. Chen Guoqiang, the vice secretary, announced the expertslist of Shannxi Friendship Award. The Shannxi governor Zhao Zhengyong, andZhang Jianguo, the vice minister of People club and the director of nationalforeign experts bureau, issued the trophies for 10 winners of the 2011 Shannxi Friendship Award.

The Shannxi governor Zhao Zhengyong, on behalf of Shaanxi provincial partycommittee, the provincial government and 38 million local people, showed thegreat respects to these foreign experts with Awards. He emphasized that talent resource is the first resource and it plays a basic, strategic and decisiverole in the economic and social development. He also expressed that Shaanxiwould try to create a favorable policy environment to talents innovation andpay more attention to open training and introduction of talents with thepurpose of providing the reliable intelligence support for the economicdevelopment. He hoped that the experts would continue to play a bridge and link role and let more foreign friends have a better understanding about Shannxi, abetter concern for Shannxi and a better support to Shannxi. He also said that with the joint efforts of local people and the active participation of international friends, Shannxi would have a more promising future.

On the conference, the foreign experts with Shannxi Friendship Award, the enrollers of Thousand People Plan and Hundred People Plan and the representatives of returned people have made the remarks. They talked about the experience of working and living in Shannxi and also the achievements madehere. The foreign expert Pauline Dimond in our university said that Xi’an nowhas already been her second home, and that she would continue to make positive contributions to the talents training, the scientific research and the exchangeand cooperation programs. Pauline Dimond is one of the Australian famous education workers. Since 2003, she has been employed as a foreign language and literature teacher by the School of Law and Humanities of NWPU. She is mainly engaged in the teaching of major English. At the same time she assumes certain English teaching in other departments and some linking tasks, such as the international academic exchange, the foreign experts contact, and the construction of the second classroom. Pauline Dimond, being diligent and conscientious and working eight years as one day, has made a lot of outstanding contributions tothe school and university English teaching, the discipline construction and the international exchange programs. She has gained the consistent high praise by the teachers and students.

It is reported that since the establishment of Shaanxi Friendship Award by the Shannxi province, there are eight foreign experts in NWPU who have won the Award. Two of them have won the National Friendship Award.