2018.04.09
On April 7, 2018, the Grandview Institution officially engaged James E. Randall for the first foreign chief researcher. Prof. Randall is also the Chair of the Executive Committee at Institute of Island Studies, Co-Chair of Island Studies and Sustainability in the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Since reaching a consensus on the academic research on island economy and sustainable development at the end of last year, Professor Randall was invited to Global Ocean Governance Dialogue held by Grandview Institution and provided an excellent keynote speech. The two sides further reached a specific cooperation direction, and will cooperate in the fields of polar research, island economic research, and marine governance research in the future, and set up a polar research cooperation network, the Academic Committee of the Grandview Institution. Furthermore, the Grandview Institution is willing to keep tight contact with research institutes and relevant UN agencies in Canada and North American marine. Professor Randall thanked Grandview Institution for the invitation and appointment, and believed that such think tank cooperation and platform activities could allow China to hear more international voices, help China to improve the understanding of ocean governance through international cooperation.
Dr. James Randall is an economic and social geographer. He has been focused on island studies these years. In the past 15 years, Dr. Randall has secured more than US$2.25 million in competitive grants and contracts and has written 35+ peer-reviewed publications. He has extensive experience as an academic administrator at three universities, including as a Dean, Vice-President Academic and Provost. Besides, Professor Randall has also been paying close attention to China’s island governance issues. In 2017, he participated in the ‘China-Island Countries Ocean-Related Ministerial Roundtable’ as the chief guest held in Pingtan. At the same year, he assisted Hainan Province in organizing the first ‘International Conference on Island Economies’ as a foreign expert, and jointly published The Hainan Statement on Island Economies: What Must Be Done with other Chinese and foreign scholars. Later, at the recent 2018 Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), Professor Randall was invited to be the host of the ‘21st Century Maritime Silk Road Island Economic Cooperation’sub-forum.