On August 18th, this one thousand nine hundred ninety sixth year, at the midnight of the eastern time, our baby Overseas Nanjing Medical University Alumni Association (ONMUAA) was delivered smoothly! Do not be afraid she will go away when you wake up in the morning like before. You can feel her warm body. Her temperature is the same as ours; Do not be afraid that she will go away when you wake up in the morning like before. You can hear her heart beating. The rhythm is the same as ours; Do not be afraid it is a dream like before. It is true, really true. It is our dreams that come true!
Nanjing and Nanjing Medical University always sound so sweet to us because our dreams originated from there, our future, our career started from there, and our golden time was spent over there.
Many of us have been far away from there for many years. Many of us have made great achievements in our careers. Many of us have also had many exciting moments on the strange and totally new land. However, have we ever stopped missing our root, our origin, and our fellows? Have we ever forgotten contributing to our mother university, our motherland, and our culture as a whole? No, not even a day or a moment. We can say with tears in our eyes: NanYi, we miss you!
United, and only united, can we make a difference! United, our intelligence and our wisdom will nourish our mother university. United, springs make a brook, brooks make a river, rivers make a sea, seas make an ocean. So we can be all in one to reward our mother university.
A glorious history has been made by you, by me, by all of us!
A group of peerless heroes should be specially honored. Their contributions should be remembered forever!
There was no strange that the earliest connections between our alumni occurred within the former classmates and friends and were normally limited to locality. The pioneer interdepartmental work dated back to about three years ago when alumni Ningjun Jiang, Qingyi Wei, Youcheng Liu, Liangfeng Tao, and others started to collect the mail list of Nanjing Medical University overseas alumni. You may image how difficult it was because alumni were scattered all over the world and there were no common media available. Furthermore some alumni did not want their information to be released. With the collective efforts of many others, the mail list was getting bigger and bigger.
Three areas (Greater Boston, St. Louis, and San Francisco) with highest alumni populations led the world with most active alumni gatherings. Alumni Jianping Xue, Youcheng Liu, Liangfeng Tao (east coast), Benquan Shen (west coast), Ningjun Jiang(St. Louis), and their families hosted several alumni gathering parties (photos). Alumnus Youcheng Liu strenuously advocated the formation of our own alumni organization. His advocacy further promoted the alumni gathering parties on both coasts. Many organizational plans for a formal association were discussed in the alumni gathering parties. Alumnus Youcheng Liu timely informed other alumni activists of those activities, which encouraged the connection and communication among different areas. During his visit to Boston in November, 1994, Alumnus Qingyi Wei widely exchanged the organizational ideas with the local alumni activists. The organizational efforts were then harmonized. With the dedication of alumnus Weiguo Zhao, the connection among alumni activists was built. In the early Summer of 1995, alumni Benquan Shen, Youcheng Liu, Ningjun Jiang, Qingyi Wei, Qianjin Liu, Liangfeng Tao, and others actively started the official organizational work. On Oct. 14, 1995 an advertisement was put on CND US regional news ISSN-1024-9141 to call for mailing address of alumni's being sent to Ningjun Jiang and Qingyi Wei. With the joint efforts of alumni Qingyi Wei, Ningjun Jiang, Li Lu, and others, the first overseas alumni directory, which included 149 alumni, was released on Jun. 16, 1996. This tedious work established the first connection between our fellow alumni. The following is a list of alumni who have contributed a lot to the compilation of alumni directory (This is not a complete list)
Hangying Dong, PH 77 Ningjun Jiang, MD77 Qianjin Liu, MD78 Youcheng Liu, PH78 Li Lu, MD77 Benquan Shen, PH78 Liangfeng Tao, PH79 Qingyi Wei, PH78 Weirong Xing, PH78 Jianping Xue, PH78 Yongjia Yu, PH77 Weiguo Zhao, MD78
After the construction of the firm connection between our fellow alumni, the communication and exchange grew rapidly. The demand for the formation of an alumni association seemed urgent. The forerunners started to realize their early dream-to form the association. The first call was sent out on July 11, 1996 by alumnus Youcheng Liu who announced the address of the hompage of NMU and called for our own hompage and organization. The tide reached a new peak when alumnus Shan Lu called for Youcheng Liu's coordination. This call intrigued worldwide nomination of Youcheng Liu as coordinator. After extensive discussions with alumnus Yongjian Liu and other MD alumni, alumnus Benquan Shen called alumnus Youcheng Liu at the night of 7/21, to further discuss the first proposal, which was issued on 7/22/96. The Steering Committee was then formally organized with alumnus Youcheng Liu as coordinator and alumnus Yongjian Liu as assistant Coordinator. The first open letter to overseas NMU alumni was later released (The final version was released on July 31, 1996.) The worldwide efforts were since organized. Alumni Youcheng Liu and Yongjian Liu had tried to contact every alumnus/alumna by every possible means and had demonstrated excellent organizational skills. With the widest participation of our fellow alumni and this extremely efficient Steering Committee, it was never a strange that the organization work was finished in four weeks and that ONMUAA was born healthy and strong although it was amazing and incredible to others. Without the endless efforts of those peerless heroes, how can any one expect such a brilliant achievement in such a short time period?
The organizational work of the steering committee was focused on following aspects: the compilation of a comprehensive alumni directory, the setting-up of a homepage, the drafting of a bylaw and the translation of it into English, the publication of newsletters, the registration of ONMUAA, the communication with our mother university, the selection of future officers, and the organization of discussions on the structure of the new organization.
The directory group was led by alumnus Qingyi Wei. Its work was to dig out every alum all over the world, to provide statistical data to the Steering Committee for policy making, and to construct a database of overseas alumni for future organizational purpose and communication. The final version of directory was released on Aug. 7, 1996 with the collaborated exertion of alumni Qingyi Wei, Bei Chen, Yongjian Liu, and others. It is a much comprehensive list with 235 alumni which almost doubled the number of the first release.
The following is a list of alumni who have contributed a lot to this great achievement:
Bei Chen, PH80 Jin Chen, PH78 Zhigang He, PH79 Xupei Huang, PH77 Ning Jin, NS84 Li Mao, M77 Qianjin Liu, MD78 Wenhui Liu, MD77 Yongjian Liu, MD78 Youcheng Liu, PH78 Li Lu, MD77 Denshun Miao, GS84 Benquan Shen, PH78 Qing Tai, MD82 Liangfeng Tao, PH79 Jianping Xue, PH78 Wei Yang, PH79 Yongjia Yu, PH77 Ming Zhang, MD79 Yamei Zhang, MD77 Weiguo Zhao, MD78
The setting-up of the homepage was among the toughest endeavors of the early organization work because none of our alumni was very familiar with the detailed protocol. Many alumni were actively involved in this process. The design of homepage was one issue and the server was the other. Alumni Liangfeng Tao and Youcheng Liu have worked very hard to find server for our homepage. They even considered possible commercial servers. Alumni Li Lu, Jianping Xue and Liqun Xiao's Husband: Dr. Qizhuang Ye provided a lot of useful information on the design and server. Alumnus Jianping Xue, PH78, setup a web page for PH alumni in June, 1996 whose access was later disabled due to server's regulation. Lu Li, MD78, also set up an NMU alumni homepage earlier which helped the directory compilation and early information exchange. The official homepage was designed by alumnus Fuhu Wang in Canada. Taking the advantage of summer break, Alumnus Fuhu Wang applied his intelligence and ability to his most and the first design was released on Aug. 15, 1996. With the widest suggestions, the homepage is getting closer and closer to perfection. The kindness of Alumnus Jianlong Mu for providing the free web access in his Jackson Laboratory is also greatly appreciated by the Steering Committee and our fellow alumni all over the world.
The bylaw group was led by alumnus Benquan Shen who also took the major responsibility in bylaw drafting. With the assistance of alumnus Yongjian Liu, the first draft of bylaw was promptly released on Aug. 7, 1996. The excellent work of the bylaw group was widely recognized by organizers and general alumni population. After wide discussion among our fellow alumni, the first draft of bylaw was revised. The revised bylaw was then translated into English by alumnus Xupei Huang who was assigned as the leader of the newsletter group.
The selection of the officers and the discussion of the general issues were the major practices of democracy. The selection of officers was using the bylaw procedure by nomination and voting. It is understandable that an election campaign was not organized. The major issue was that all of our candidates were very busy with their daily work. The campaign and election would take a long time. However the campaign and election were highly recommended by the Steering Committee members and were considered as an important step toward democracy. The Bylaw and the administration structure were extensively discussed among organizers. Alumni Youcheng Liu and Shan Lu's constructive suggestions were very far-sighted and contributed crucially to the finalization of the Bylaw. The English version of the Bylaw was circulated to all alumni with e-mail addresses. The call for a formal vote on the Bylaw was sent out on Friday, Aug. 16, 1996. However it was too late to reach alumni for a vote before the declaration of ONMUAA. But those who formally voted all voted "yes" to the Bylaw. The formal vote for the Bylaw maintained as an issue until the last minutes before the declaration. The final decision was made by a group of organizers based on the fact that the Bylaw was extensively discussed and that it is still open for future amendment.
Although the first issue of newsletter was edited by Youcheng Liu and the second issue has not come out yet, the newsletter group's work should not be ignored. Alumni Xupei Huang, Bei Chen, Zhigang He, and their group, have actively started their plan on the design, content and releasing method of the future issues. Their work will provide first hand information for the first administration's policy making.
The Steering Committee has also started many other projects, such as the registration for a non-profit organization, the communication with NMU campus, and channels for international communication between alumni. Although none of them was completed, a few names should be mentioned. Alumni Qianjin Liu and Jin Chen, as well as their group, have collected very useful information for the organizational registration. Alumni Qianjin Liu even left his residency work behind for such a "small job". Their accomplishments will be appreciated by current administration. Alumnus Zhigang He never stopped contacting NMU campus for the possible official assistance, recognition and later alumni connections. His efforts certainly will make the later connection and alumni affairs smoother. The international leader, Alumna Yamei Zhang, MD77, who actively reached out and participated in this strenuous work even ignoring the inconvenience to her due to the time difference, has set-up a good example for alumni all over the world.
The following is a list of the Steering Committee members
77 Ningjun Jiang, Li Lu, Shan Lu, Yamei Zhang 78 Gang Bao, Qianjin Liu, Yongjian Liu, Weiguo Zhao, Qinghua Yang 79 Zhigang He, Jianlong Mu, Ming Zhang, Fuhu Wang 82 Qing Tai
77 Xupei Huang, Yongjia Yu 78 Jin Chen, Youcheng Liu, Benquan Shen, Qingyi Wei, Jianping Xue 79 Liangfeng Tao, Wei Yang 80+ Bei Chen
84 Ning Jin
77 Yi Wu 78 Jianxin Chen
79 Guoqin Liu 84 Zhigang He, Liangfeng Tao 85 Bei Chen
Banghua Sun
Youcheng Liu PH78, Boston, Massachusetts Overall coordination of task groups
Yongjian Liu MD78, San Francisco, California Help with coordination of all assignments
Benquan Shen PH78, San Francisco, California Coordination of bylaw drafting and revising Yongjia Yu PH77, Boston, Massachusetts Same task
Banghua Sun and Jianxin Chen
Liangfeng Tao PH79, Lowell, Massachusetts Coordination of homepage setup and maintenance
Li Lu, MD77, Baltimore, Maryland Same task
Fuhu Wang, MD 79, Ottawa, Canada,
Qingyi Wei, PH78, Houston, Texas Coordination of directory compiling and updating
Ningjun Jiang, MD78, St Louis, Missouri Same task
Shan Lu, MD77, Worcester, Massachusetts Coordination of communication with Nanjing campus and other organizations
Zhigang He, MD79, Toronto, Canada Same task
Yi Wu
Ning Jin, NS84, Ann Arbor, Michigan Coordination of international correspondence, Committee affairs, votes counting, and record keeping
Benquan Shen, PH78, San Francisco, California Same task
Xupei Huang, PH77, Madison, Wisconsin Coordination of newsletter editing and (subject to approval by ONMUAA later) Bei Chen, PH80, San Francisco, California Same task
Qing Tai
Qianjin Liu, MD78, St Louis, Missouri Coordination of association registration and related affairs Jin Chen, PH78, Stanford, California
Australia: Yamei Zhang, MD77, Victoria, Australia Europe--pending Japan--pending
The most exciting moment was the declaration of our association at the midnight of Aug. 18, 1996 (ET). It was not sure how many alumni were on line waiting for the announcement. It was known that Youcheng Liu, Yongjian Liu, Benquan Shen Jianlong Mu, Fuhu, Wang, Ning Jin were on the line to discuss some final details of the announcement and to put the declaration letter on the newly designed web page. The voting results were updated all the time to provide information for the final drafting of the declaration letter. The final announcement was on time as prepared. At the midnight (ET) of Aug. 18, 1996, on behalf of the Steering Committee, Coordinator Youcheng Liu and Assistant Coordinator Yongjian Liu acknowledged to the world the formation of the Overseas Nanjing Medical University Alumni Association. The final voting results were also announced. Eight officers were elected. Congratulations to every one and congratulations to our new association. Thanks to all of you who made this happen. Your efforts will be remembered.
With the high expectation from its members, the first administration led by President Qingyi Wei took the office the following morning. With confidence the administration is planning to announce its proposals. No hero can make history by just himself. The administration is ready to work with all our fellow alumni world around. A new, even brighter history will start from here.
The following is a list of members of the current administration: President: Qingyi Wei Vice Presidents: Benquan Shen, Fuhu Wang Secretary: Ning Jin Others: Waiting for the approval from the Governing Board
The following is a list of its members: Chair: Shan Lu
Co-Chair: Yongjian Liu, and Youcheng Liu
Secretary: Liangfeng Tao
77 Ningjun Jiang, Li Lu, Shan Lu, Yamei Zhang 78 Gang Bao, Qianjin Liu, Yongjian Liu, Weiguo Zhao, Qinghua Yang 79 Zhigang He, Jianlong Mu, Ming Zhang, Fuhu Wang 82 Qing Tai
77 Xupei Huang, Yongjia Yu 78 Jin Chen, Youcheng Liu, Benquan Shen, Qingyi Wei, Jianping Xue 79 Liangfeng Tao, Wei Yang 80+ Bei Chen
84 Ning Jin
77 Yi Wu 78 Jianxin Chen
79 Guoqin Liu 84 Zhigang He, Liangfeng Tao 85 Bei Chen
Banghua Sun
It should be emphasized that this is only a small part of the overall accomplishments. It is almost impossible to include everything in this short history. Therefore the original e-mail correspondence (with a total of more than seven hundred pages) of the organizers is included here as a part of the history museum for future studies. It would certainly be recommendable to form an association history study group in the future when the current administration rush period is over or when we are retired.
This short history was written by Ning Jin under the direct guidance of the Executive Committee on Aug. 27, 1996 at Ann Arbor, USA. Last revised on Aug. 30, 1996. Please send your comments and suggestions to Ning Jin at this box 
or to President Qingyi Wei at this box 
The acknowledgment from the former Steering Committee coordinator
The acknowledgment from the Executive Committee