唐寧在南方大學榮譽博士學位授予儀式上的英文演講：“國際化的人文教育給我人生以支點”

以下爲唐寧在榮譽博士授予儀式上的演講實錄：Distinguished members of the board of regents and the board of trustees, distinguished members of the faculty, staff, students of the College and the School of Theology, other distinguished guests:尊敬的各位校董事會、理事會成員，尊敬的全體教職員工、老師們、同學們，各位貴賓：Thank you. Thank you very much.大家好！感謝各位！It’s my great honor to be here and receive this very special recognition. I am truly humbled and grateful. It’s so nice to be back home with all of you.很榮幸今天在這裡獲此殊榮，受寵若驚之餘，我的心中更是滿懷感激。回到母校，與各位歡聚一堂的感覺真好。I first came to the mountain in summer 1995, as a transfer student from Beijing, China. Before coming to Sewanee, I had spent all my school years studying mathematics and eventually made to China’s national team for the 1992 mathematical Olympics. Unfortunately, I was No.8 and the top 6 fellow students went to Moscow and all won gold medals. So, when I made it to Sewanee, I had no idea about what a liberal arts education could offer. Today, I can say for sure: a liberal arts education is key for someone who wishes to develop into a full person, someone who can appreciate the world better and also shoulder key responsibilities that an increasingly challenging world demands. The courses that I took, in Shakespeare, Fine Art, Music, etc. helped me tremendously when I later became a venture capital investor and an entrepreneur. I started to invest in early stage companies in 2003, when there were very few VC firms in China. My job was to figure out whether a startup could become giant 10 years down the road. When I founded CreditEase in 2006, my job was to grow it from zero to great with very limited resources. What makes a company great? I do not think it’s business model; I think it’s about people, about integrity, social purpose, diversity, openness, innovative culture, and for all those I have drawn great strength from what I learned at Sewanee. My great friend and leading venture capitalist in China, Quan Zhou, Managing Partner of IDG Capital, once said that, based on his 25 years of experience in reading, judging entrepreneurs and investors, people with liberal arts background stand a better chance to succeed in business and in life. I cannot agree with him more. In my view, a liberal arts college graduate can do anything and excel. He or she will not be limited at all by lacking specific skills which can always be learned later.1995年夏天，我從中國北京大學轉學過來，第一次來到這裡。在此之前，我所有的時間都在學習數學，最終於1992年入選奧林匹克數學競賽中國國家集訓隊。遺憾的是當時我只獲得了第八名，而只有前六名的同學才能去莫斯科參賽，當年他們都拿到了金牌。所以，當我來到南方大學時，對於人文學科會教什麼一無所知。但是今天，我可以很肯定地說，人文教育是一個人全面發展的關鍵，是一個人更好地認識世界、欣賞世界的關鍵，更是一個人在面對日益增多的挑戰時能承擔起重要責任的關鍵。我在這裡所學的課程，文學、藝術、音樂等等，在我後來成爲風險投資人和企業家的道路上發揮了巨大的作用。從2003年起，我開始做風險投資，當時中國的風險投資公司還很少。我的工作是去辨識一家初創公司能否在未來十年成長爲商業巨擘。2006年我創辦了宜信。如何以有限的資源，實現公司從零到卓越的成長，是我當時的主要工作。是什麼成就了偉大的企業呢？我想，並不是商業模式，而是人，是誠信正直、社會價值、多樣性、開放性和創新的文化。所有的這一切我都從在南方大學的學習中汲取了巨大的能量。我的好友——中國頂尖風險投資家、IDG資本管理合夥人周全曾說，基於他25年的閱人經驗（識別創業者和投資人），具有人文教育背景的人更有可能在商業世界和人生中獲得成功。對此我非常之贊同。就我看來，一名人文學科的畢業生可以勝任各類工作，並脫穎而出。他/她不會因不具備某項專業技能而受到侷限，因爲技能是可以後續學到的。

Also at Sewanee, I was introduced to great extracurricular opportunities, including summer internships, which profoundly expanded my horizon. I did totally 4 internships in consecutive two summers. The first two were related to research and they helped me discover more about myself that academic research is not my interest, although the two professors both loved me and wanted me to go back work for them. The following year I went abroad, making my way to Japan and Bangladesh. The contrast between the two countries was just huge and amazing. Looking back, I feel blessed that such opportunities exposed me to the whole world. Today, global perspectives are essential to personal and organizational success, and I am really glad to see that Sewanee is becoming increasingly global. When I first learned about Professor Scott Wilson’s new title and the creation of the Office of Global Education in 2015, renamed the Office of Global Citizenship the following year, I was thrilled. I believe in the 21st century, every person, although having his or her own nationality, is a global citizen, benefiting from global resources and also facing global challenges. When I was at Sewanee, I had the great experience of serving as president of a student organization called the Organization for Cross-Cultural Understanding. Its members included students from all over the world, from Africa, from Europe, from India, from China, and of course from the US. It was not easy for us to make a decision sometimes, as people had very different views as a result of their diverse backgrounds. So, I had to learn to listen and compromise. Today, I lead an international team at our company CreditEase operating not only in mainland China but also in Hong Kong, Singapore, Israel, east coast and west coast of the US, the UK, and our global fintech investment team also covers Africa. I think I have reached cross-cultural understanding with my colleagues from different nationalities. We work very well together as a team.

也正是在南方大學，我得到了很多課外活動機會，包括極大拓展了我的視野的暑期實習。在連續的兩個暑假中我經歷了四段實習。前兩段實習內容主要是研究工作，這讓我更清楚地瞭解到學術研究並非我的興趣所在。儘管當時我跟隨的兩位教授都很喜歡我，希望我繼續爲他們工作。後兩段實習機會我分別去了日本和孟加拉，這兩個國家的差異之大，令人驚訝。回首過去，我爲能有這樣的機會接觸到更大的世界感到幸運。今天，國際化視野對於個人和機構的成功至關重要，我很欣喜地看到南方大學正變得越來越國際化。當我第一次得知施康德教授的新頭銜、2015年成立全球化教育辦公室並於2016年更名爲全球公民辦公室時，我非常激動。我相信在21世紀，雖然每個人都有自己的國籍，但也都是全球公民，在受益於全球資源的同時也面臨着來自全球的挑戰。在南方大學求學期間，我有一段特別棒的經歷，是在一個名爲“跨文化理解團體”（Organization for Cross-Cultural Understanding）的學生組織任主席，成員來自於世界各地，包括非洲、歐洲、印度、中國，當然還有美國本土。因爲不同背景的人往往有不同的觀點，有時候我們很難做出一個決定，所以我必須學會傾聽，學着妥協。現如今，我帶領着宜信的國際化團隊，不僅在中國大陸開展業務，還將業務拓展到了香港、新加坡、以色列、美國東西海岸、英國，乃至非洲。我想我已經和來自不同國家的同事實現了跨文化理解。我們的團隊配合非常好。

Although I did not know at that time, my career was deeply rooted at Sewanee. I remember taking a course from Professor Yasmeen Mohiuddin, during which she showcased a very interesting social enterprise called Grameen whose founder Dr. Muhammad Yunus happens to be her alum. I was fascinated to learn that Grameen had been able to offer life changing micro loans to millions of poor Bangladeshi females in remote villages. I told myself that I would have to go see it working in real life, so I went, supported by a Sewanee fellowship. In summer 1997, I flew from Nashville to Washington DC, then to Zurich, New Delhi, Kathmandu, and finally to Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, then one of the poorest countries in the world. I spent most of my time in the field, visiting borrower families and projects, participating in credit education and capability development seminars, making my hands very dirty. Through this eye-opening experience, I learned that finance can be much more than just Wall Street and business can do tremendous social good on top of being commercially successful. Nine years following that meaningful summer program, CreditEase was founded, as a highly unique organization serving both the richest and the poorest in China, utilizing technology to build a bridge between the two thereby making financial services more inclusive and most value-adding. Today, we’ve made it possible for a philanthropic investor to lend, through our digital platform, as little as 100RMB or about $15 to a rural poor female entrepreneur who needs to borrow about a few hundred dollars for her agricultural project. The investor can see all the projects and entrepreneurs out there and choose from them the ones that meet his personal criteria. One year later, he will have his money back- as a result of our industry leading risk mgt capability, we’ve had zero default in 9 years since the program’s inception- and the investor can lend it out again to different people. Also today, we’ve made it possible for a wealthy investor, most likely a successful entrepreneur in traditional industries like real estate and manufacturing, to invest his wealth, in a risk diversified way, into China’s new economy startups doing education, healthcare, AI, big data, etc. and wait for them to become giants 10 years down the road. Both innovations are pioneering in China and have won global and regional top awards for financial innovation.

當時的我並未意識到，我未來的事業已深深地根植於南方大學。我還記得上過Yasmeen Mohiuddin教授的一門課，她向我們介紹了一個非常有趣的社會企業——格萊珉，創始人尤努斯博士就是教授的校友。當我瞭解到格萊珉向孟加拉偏遠鄉村數百萬的貧窮婦女提供小額貸款進而改變她們的生活時，我非常着迷。我對自己說，我一定要去親眼看看它是如何運作的，於是在南方大學獎學金的支持下，我出發了。1997年夏天，我從納什維爾飛往華盛頓，再飛到蘇黎世、新德里、加德滿都，最終抵達孟加拉國首都達卡，當時的孟加拉國是世界上最貧窮的國家之一。我大部分的時間都在鄉村田野中度過，走訪借款人家庭、查看項目、參加信用教育和能力提升研討會，在一線開展工作。這段經歷令我眼界大開，我發現金融不僅是指華爾街，而商業在賺錢的同時還可能創造巨大的社會價值。在這個意義深遠的暑期實習項目結束九年後，宜信成立了，它是一個非常獨特的機構，它既服務於中國最富有的人，也爲中國最貧窮的人提供服務，利用科技在兩者之間架起一座橋樑，從而使金融服務更有包容性、最具價值。如今，我們使這樣的做法成爲可能，一位公益愛心投資者可以通過我們的數字平臺向一位貧困的農村女企業家提供資金，也許僅僅100元人民幣(約合15美元)，積累成爲解決該企業家農業項目幾百美元資金需求的來源。投資者可以查看所有的項目和企業家，從中選擇符合他個人標準的項目來投資。歸功於我們行業領先的風險管理能力，該計劃啓動9年以來，未發生過一起違約事件。投資一年後，投資者即可收回資金，再出借給其他人。同樣是在現在,我們也可以令富有的投資者, 如房地產和製造業等傳統行業的成功企業家，通過風險分散的方式將財富投資到中國新經濟領域的初創公司，如教育、醫療保健、人工智能、大數據等,等待他們十年後成爲巨頭。這兩項創新在中國都處於領先地位，並因金融創新獲得了區域和全球的最高獎項。

I graduated in 1998 and went to work on Wall Street. That was among the coolest jobs at that time, as the Internet boom was well on the way. So many people at Sewanee were greatly helpful to me during my career planning process. For all the years on the mountain, our international students had a great mentor, Joan Williamson, who graciously gave us her care and guidance. We all have very fond memories about the time spent with her and Professor Sam Williamson at the Clement Chen hall. It certainly felt like home to us. I remember Joan dressing me up like a young professional. Until then I had had little sense about how I should appear for investment bank interviews! I heavily relied on alumni network as I found my way to Wall Street. All the people I spoke to were kind to me and offered their help. Here please allow me to say that Sewanee alumni have played key roles in the business community, and it’s my view that business and liberals arts can be very complimentary. Today, the capability of doing great business is highly relevant to running an NGO or a government agency. Doing good also requires closer examination on its return on investment, which will make it so much more efficient to get good things done with only very limited resources. So, I am very excited about the school’s recent plans to add more business courses to its curriculum and build more resources for the students to expand their education experience. I believe such initiatives can only make Sewanee stronger and its true liberal arts roots current and long lasting.

1998年畢業後，我去華爾街工作，那在當時是非常酷的工作，因爲互聯網的繁榮正在到來。在我的職業規劃過程中，南方大學的很多人都給我提供了巨大的幫助。在南方大學的那些年，我們國際學生有一位特別好的導師——瓊•威廉姆森（Joan Williamson），她給予我們無微不至的關懷和指導，她與丈夫薩姆•威廉姆森（Sam Williamson）校長招待我們在校長官邸度過了非常美好的時光，令我們感覺就像在自己家一樣。我還記得瓊幫我準備面試，教我穿着得體適合職場，而在那之前，我對如何參加投行面試幾乎一無所知。在我進入華爾街的過程中，我非常依賴校友網絡。所有的校友都熱情而友善，給予我很大幫助。在此我想說，南方大學的校友們在商界發揮着關鍵作用，並且我認爲商業和人文學科可以很好地互補。如今，做大做強商業的能力與經營非政府組織或政府機構是高度相關的。做慈善也需要對投資回報做細緻的考察，從而以有限的資源來更高效地行善。因此，我很高興得知學校計劃在課程中增加更多的商業課程，併爲學生提供更多的商業資源來擴展其教育經歷。我相信，這樣的舉措會讓南方大學變得更強大，也將令學校的人文根基歷久彌新。

Plain words cannot express my feeling at this moment. I wish I had taken more Shakespeare courses. Just a couple of months ago, I greeted a group of Sewanee faculty and students in Beijing. They had just completed their highly successful summer research in east China. Vice Chancellor John McCardell was also there, and let me tell you he was greeted with strong enthusiasm by local high school students and parents like a movie star. Following that, a team of 20 Chinese high school students, a terrific group recruited with help from CreditEase, came to Sewanee for a week, to learn more about the US high education and great Sewanee liberal arts education. We are together making Sewanee very famous in China and all around the world. I hope soon in the future there will be no one asking me this question: University of the South? South of what? Let me say that I am real proud to be part of this great institution, not just a top school in the south of the US, but an ideal destination for worldwide talents who will, after several years of liberal arts education, become responsible global citizens ready to serve and contribute to society.

平淡的語言無法盡述我此刻的感受。多麼希望當初我多修一些莎士比亞課程啊！就在幾個月前，我在北京接待了來自南方大學的師生代表團，他們剛剛順利結束了在中國東部地區的暑期研究項目。校長John McCardell教授當時也在場，我想告訴大家的是，他關於人文教育的分享得到了中國學生和家長的熱情迴應，他受到了像電影明星一樣熱烈的歡迎。在那之後，宜信財富和南方大學共同招募了一羣來自中國的優秀中學生，20位青年學生來到了南方大學，開展了爲期一週的學習，瞭解美國的高等教育，接受南方大學傑出的人文教育。我們正共同努力，讓南方大學揚名中國和全世界。我希望在不久的將來不會再有人問我這個問題: 南方大學? 哪裡的南方? 我想說我爲能成爲南方大學——這一偉大學校的一員而由衷地驕傲。南方大學，不僅僅是美國南部的頂級學府,更是全球人才的理想之地。在這裡，人才受數年人文教育之浸染，將肩負全球公民之責任，造福社會。

Thank you. Thank you very much. It’s great to be home and I enjoy every bit of it. Thank you.

非常感謝大家，回家的感覺真好，每一刻都如此美好。謝謝！