Date: Tue, 31 May 2005 11:07:45 -1000
From: Cynthia Ning <cyndy@HAWAII.EDU>
Subject: Message from CLTA president: Prof. Jin Hong Gang
To: clta-members <clta-members@HAWAII.EDU>

Dear CLTA members:

I am delighted to report that Jill Cheng, President of Cheng & Tsui Company, has pledged $10,000 to CLTA to establish an endowment fund in honor of the late Dr. Ronald Walton. This fund comes at a crucial time to provide long-term support for two existing CLTA annual awards that recognize excellence and lifetime contributions to the field of teaching Chinese as a foreign language (CFL): the CLTA Walton Award for overall contributions to the field of Chinese language pedagogy, and the Walton Presentation Prize to recognize the best first-time presentation at the CLTA Annual Meeting.

As the president of C & T Company, Jill has contributed to our field with high quality Chinese language and cultural publications, multimedia software, and professional and financial support for many CLTA related activities and events. The establishment of the C & T professional development award and the Walton endowment are just two examples of her continued support for CLTA. Her professional and personal contributions over the years to Chinese language teaching have helped the field of CFL grow and change profoundly.

Please join me and the CLTA Board of Directors in expressing our deepest appreciation for her generous donation to CLTA. In addition to this e-mail, a formal recognition of the C & T Walton endowment will be held at this year's annual conference in Baltimore.

Sincerely,

Hong Gang Jin
President of CLTA
Professor of Chinese
Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures
Hamilton College
Clinton, NY 13323