Smith to serve as planning partner for AWLU

It was announced last week that Smith College will serve as the primary U.S. academic planning partner for the establishment of the Asian Women’s Leadership University (AWLU) in Malaysia.

Smith President Carol T. Christ said the college supports the idea of expanding women’s access to high-quality education and is attracted to the opportunity to help develop a liberal arts institution that would address and take into account the particular needs and context of the Asia region.

Smith alumnae Barbara Hou ’03, Hoon Eng Khoo ’76, and Mona Sinha ’88 helped develop the idea for the AWLU, and make up the founding board of the AWLU Project, a U.S.-based non-profit that will work toward establishing the university.

In connection with the planning partnership, Smith College will also work with a team of leading academics from Asia and the Middle East with respect to the school’s curriculum and pedagogy. Special attention will also be devoted to the development of the leadership component of the curriculum.