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July 21, 2005 Lacey, Wash. – Saint Martin's College President Douglas M. Astolfi, Ph.D., is the newest member of the United States Catholic China Bureau’s board of directors. The bureau, founded in 1989, promotes friendship and communication with the people of China, and encourages understanding among American Catholics about the Catholic Church and its members in that country. It also supports the U.S. Catholic Church’s recommitment through a new missionary partnership with the Chinese Catholic Church. The bureau’s activities include a biannual National Catholic China Conference; religious study tours to China; and lecture and seminar presentations. Astolfi was elected to a three-year term on the board because of his “sustained interest in China and extensive leadership experience in Catholic higher education,” said William McConville, O.F.M., who chairs the board. As a board member, Astolfi will help advise and guide the bureau as it works to improve relations and develop activities, as well as work to assure that the bureau has the financial resources to maintain its service programs to the Catholic Church in China. Astolfi, who began his presidency at Saint Martin’s July 1, is a longtime supporter of international education and its increasing importance for today’s students. As vice president for academic affairs at Florida’s Saint Leo University, he was instrumental in landing a Freeman Foundation grant to establish a center for entrepreneurial studies in China in partnership with Changchun University of Science and Technology. He also led efforts to open four undergraduate and graduate programs in China and Singapore. Deanna Partlow
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