At the age of 16, Song Yonghua left his rural home to attend university. In the 1990s, he traveled to Europe as a teacher, becoming the first Chinese academician of the Royal Academy of Engineering and the first Chinese Vice-Chancellor at Brunel University. 

This educator embodies both the achievements of his era and a legendary personal endeavor, with a path of growth and success. What is more admirable is that, despite his extensive global experiences, he still chose to return to his homeland. Taking Macao as a window and the University of Macau(UM) as a starting point, he has devoted himself to the social development and higher education of the Greater Bay Area with unwavering dedication. The century-long history of Chinese students studying abroad has nurtured national pillars as brilliant as the shining stars. 

As an educator who bridges the past and the future, Song has found himself at a unique crossroads where Eastern and Western cultures converge, at a time when the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is accelerating to develop and integrate, and amidst the dialogue between Chinese and foreign educational philosophies. How will he leverage the innovative talent pool of the GBA to integrate Eastern and Western cultures and infuse both a sense of national pride and a global perspective into the new development and new path of UM?