Professor Kurt Fischer recently was given an honorary professorship at East China Normal University in Shanghai where he helped launch a new Mind, Brain, and Education (MBE) program.

Of the dozen MBE programs in the world, this is the first to be launched in China. “It’s exciting,” Fischer said of the latest effort. “[Ed School] students are playing the leading role in the development of MBE around the world.”

“We were involved in founding the International Mind, Brain, and Education Society and the [Mind, Brain, and Education] journal,” Fischer continued. “Bringing together people was always a part of the vision [of MBE programs]. If we work together we can do much better than if we compete with each other.”

East China Normal University is the largest school for training teachers in China, Fisher said. A couple years ago, the school’s administration decided to adopt an MBE program following the recommendation of former HGSE postdoctoral student Jiaxian Zhou, who, over the past two years, has developed the program.

During the two-day conference in Shanghai, Fischer provided the opening address, which was attended by the Mayor of Shanghai. Fischer plans to continue to work with the university and possibly co-teach some courses in the future.