Marijk van der Wende is Distinguished Professor of Higher Education at Utrecht University's Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance. Her research focuses on the impact of globalization and internationalization on higher education systems, institutions, curricula, and teaching and learning arrangements. She is also an affiliate faculty and research associate at the Center for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE) at the University of California Berkeley. She is member of: the Academy of Europe (Academia Europaea, section behavioural sciences); the International Advisory Board of the Centre for the Study of World Class Universities, Shanghai Jiao Tong University; the Graduate Campus Advisory Board of the University of Zurich; the Advisory Board of the Centre for Global Higher Education, based at the Institute of Education, University College London; the Supervisory Board of the Open University of the Netherlands, the Board of the Rathenau Institute for Science and Technology in Society, and the Board of the Amsterdam University College Scholarship Fund (ASF Foundation).

At present, Asian Americans are the largest incoming immigrant population and the fastest growing racial group in the United States. The Immigration Act of 1965 in the U.S. and the Open Door policies in China brought forth the initial change in population. Chinese immigrants in particular comprise the largest incoming Asian population. With increasing numbers of Chinese international students entering the U.S. each year, they continue to be overlooked because of their settlement and integration within college campus communities rather than the long standing ethnic communities. However the Chinese international students face the same issues as Chinese immigrants in adapting to U.S. society. While immigrant arrival into a new country has longstanding effects for any cultural group, further research needs to be explored on present day immigrant populations using a systematic Asian American modes of incorporation framework to understand trends and help forecast ways to support immigrant and international student groups.

The Seventh International Conference on World-Class Universities (WCU-7) was held on November 6th to 9th 2017, organized by the Centre for World-Class Universities, Graduate School of Education at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. It attracted more than 180 delegates from 35 countries, with two keynote lectures and 24 presentations. The conference aims to bring together researchers, university leaders, policy makers, government officials and other stakeholders to discuss major developments and issues in the field of world-class universities.