by Whitney Hale
(Dec. 16, 2013) — Huajing Maske, director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Kentucky, has received a 2013 Confucius Institute Individual Performance Excellence Award. The honor recognizes UK's director as one of the top 15 leaders of 430 Confucius Institutes worldwide.
Maske received the international award at the opening ceremony of the eighth Confucius Institute Conference held Dec. 7, in Beijing. The award is given to 15 individuals worldwide among the directors of 430 Confucius Institutes (90 in the U.S.), 250 Confucius Classrooms and the university leaders whose institutions have Confucius Institutes. The award was presented by the Vice Premier of China.
"I feel very honored to receive this award, but most important, I feel that this is another great opportunity for UK's name to be known by the more than 2,000 attendees from higher education institutions around the world and in China," Maske said.
This is the second year in a row that UK Confucius Institute won one of the two competitive awards presented by the Office of Chinese Language Council International (colloquially known as the Hanban). Last year, the institute won one of only 25 Confucius Institute of the Year awards.
"Dr. Maske’s distinction among more than 400 directors world-wide speaks to the exemplary work she is doing at the UK Confucius Institute, which continually earns international accolades,” UK Provost Christine Riordan said. "Internationalization is a vital commitment at UK, which weaves through our education, research and service missions. We commend Dr. Maske for her role in this commitment."
The mission of the UK Confucius Institute is to serve as Kentucky’s gateway to China in the areas of education, arts, culture and business. Maske and her staff have been largely successful in fulfilling this mission at UK, local Kentucky schools and in the community at large.
Since its inauguration, the institute has positioned itself as a conduit of UK’s China initiatives, and created many successful partnerships between colleges at UK and Chinese Universities. UK Confucius Institute has also played a valuable role in K-12 Chinese language and cultural education.
美国肯塔基大学孔子学院院长修华静由于其出色的工作表现，喜获2013年度全球孔子学院先进个人，2013年12月7日，在第八届孔子学院大会上，国务院副总理刘延东亲自为修院长颁奖。
华静博士说： “能够获得此荣誉我感到很荣幸，让我感到更骄傲的是全世界2000多名参与高校中，肯塔基大学能得此盛誉”
这是连续第二年肯塔基大学孔子学院荣获被汉办授予的全世界最具竞争力的孔子学院两所之一。去年肯塔基大学的孔子学院也获得的25所优秀孔院之一的称号。
肯塔基大学的教务长说：“我们为肯塔基大学的孔子学院连续受到国际荣誉感到很骄傲，也为华静博士获得的奖项感到高兴。国际化是一个很重要的事情，跟我们的教育，研究和服务有关系。”
肯塔基大学孔子学院为中美教育，艺术，文化等各个领域，做出了突出的贡献。自肯塔基大学孔子学院成立以来，修华静院长始终饱含热情，积极推动孔子学院的发展，以贯彻肯大孔子学院的使命。作为肯大和中国的桥梁，她的辛劳换来了丰硕的成果。