On October 17th, 2023, a delegation from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, led by Dean Erika James and Deputy Dean Adam Michaels, visited the Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance (SAIF) at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The SAIF attendees at the meeting included Vice President Xuemin Xu, Deputy Director Ke Chen of the International Exchange Office, Executive Dean Shijun Cheng, and Deputy Dean of Academic Affairs and Faculty Hong Yan.
At the meeting, the SAIF representatives welcomed the Wharton delegation. They expressed a desire to strengthen cooperation between the two institutions in areas related to faculty and academic collaborations. Executive Dean Cheng noted that SAIF specializes in Sci-Tech Innovation Finance, Fintech, and Sustainable Finance. As a globally top-ranked business school, Wharton’s expertise could significantly benefit SAIF across these domains. Deputy Dean Yan proposed exploring faculty exchanges to invite Wharton professors to SAIF and provide opportunities for SAIF professors and students to visit Wharton.
Dean James conveyed Wharton's value of its long-standing partnership with SAIF. She highlighted interests in discovering more joint opportunities in ESG research, Fintech, policy initiatives, and organizing global forums.
In May 2018, SAIF and Wharton formally signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a strategic partnership. The collaboration aimed to advance mutual goals across strategic development, global presence, academic research, and talent development. This built on SAIF’s globally leading position in specialized financial education programs. In 2019, SAIF and Wharton co-developed the SAIF-Wharton Advanced Finance Management Program.
