June Newsletter: Rick Dunham's final commencement as co-director, a joyous graduation, and remarkable alumni accomplishments
- Rick Dunham
- Jul 7
- 8 min read
Updated: Jul 11
GLOBAL BUSINESS JOURNALISM NEWSLETTER
June 2025
Summer is upon us, and our Global Business Journalism students are fanning out across China on field trips to locations as diverse as Sichuan and Xinjiang. But before the break from studies began, we celebrated the graduation of 27 GBJ veterans who began their graduate studies at Tsinghua University in 2022 and 2023. Chinese graduates outnumbered their international counterparts by 18 to nine — the biggest such ratio since the program began in 2007 — but the number of students from around the world continues to bounce back from its post-COVID lows and the incoming class of 2025 is expected to be our largest in nearly a decade.
Let's get right to the news of the past month!
A lifetime achievement award for Rick Dunham at GBJ's commencement celebration
Rick Dunham is stepping down as GBJ's co-director at the end of the fall semester after 12 1/2 years on the job, and Tsinghua honored him at his 12th commencement with a lifetime achievement honor and an award for service to the Global Business Journalism program, journalism and Tsinghua University. Professor Hang Min, the associate dean for international affairs and GBJ co-director, and journalism school dean Zhou Qing'an presented Professor Dunham with the award. Also on hand were his wife, visiting professor Pam Tobey, and John Liu, executive editor for Greater China of Bloomberg News and a longtime supporter of the GBJ program.
Professor Dunham, visibly moved by the award, lauded the family atmosphere of the GBJ program and the Tsinghua School of Journalism and Communication.
"The journalism school is unique because we — faculty and students alike — truly care about one another," he said. "We care not only about academics – but also about the personal well-being of the students."
Twenty-seven students from eight nations celebrated their successful completion of the GBJ program on June 20 in a joyous event at the j-school building following the TSJC commencement ceremony. The 2025 commencement celebration marked the graduation of 18 Chinese and nine international students from seven countries.
The vaedictorians were:
Christina Yang of the United States, who was honored for best academic thesis for her analysis of audience segmentation in English language Chinese business media.
Hannan Gillani of Pakistan who received the best thesis award for his professional journalism portfolio examining the efforts of China's automakers to improve their standing in the Pakistani market.
GBJ's Shirley Chen of Canada, who received a university-wide award for her outstanding portfolio of journalism stories revealing some of the unreal aspects of reality dating shows in China.
Corazon Scheppy of the United States was chosen as student speaker at the GBJ commencement celebration. She was honored for her excellent journalism portfolio on cross-cultural university student enrollment in the United States and China, and the impact of Gen Z Americans on U.S.-China relations.
Vicki Chalermlapvoraboon of Thailand won an award for exceptional service to the GBJ program and the journalism school's international office, including work on the GBJ newsletter and assistance with events.
>>> Read Bakhtawar Tauseef's report on the GBJ commencement celebration
GBJ students' graduation festivities include j-school and university-wide commencements
The Tsinghua School of Journalism and Communication celebrated its 2025 graduation on June 20 with more than 150 students, including the 27 Global Business Journalism graduates, receiving degrees at a ceremony in Tsinghua's Old Auditorium. Two days later, the newly minted GBJ grads formally received their diplomas at a university-wide ceremony at the Tsinghua athletic field.
At the TSJC commencement, Dean Zhou Qing’an congratulated the graduates and encouraged them to stay curious, tell meaningful stories, and take action.
“What matters most are thinkers who take action,” he said.
Representing international students, GBJ graduate Hannan Gillani reflected on his time at Tsinghua, thanking the faculty for creating a supportive space for students from diverse backgrounds. He emphasized the growing need for ethical, responsible journalism in today’s fast-changing media environment.
“Tsinghua gave me the confidence to believe that journalism can be a force for change,” he said.
Rick Dunham, co-director of the GBJ program and senior visiting scholar, highlighted the program’s 18-year record of preparing global financial journalists. Delivering much of his speech in Chinese, he praised the school’s international focus and told students to embrace technological change.
“You’ve learned how to work with data, tell stories across platforms, and communicate across cultures,” he said. “Use those tools to meet the challenges ahead.”
Professor Chen Shuang, speaking on behalf of the Chinese faculty, urged graduates to value real-life
connections, express themselves with honesty, and remain grounded as they enter the
workforce.
Commencement 2025: Complete coverage
>>> Dean Zhou Qing'an: Class of 2025 carved "a unique path to success" through pandemic-era challenges
>>> Professor Rick Dunham to 2025 graduates: "You are prepared to be influential international players"
GBJ graduate Maria Rincon becomes a break-out star as an international public speaking consultant
As she recently moderated Women in Tech Sweden for the first time, the biggest conference for women in tech in the Nordics, GBJ alumna Maria Rincon’s interviews ranged from topics on how to transform astronauts’ urine into water, apps for women going through menopause, doxing, to a personal story about a woman who worked as a child laborer in the United States but turned her life around and got into Harvard on a full scholarship.
The 2021 graduate from Canada credits her journalism skills, honed during her GBJ years, as well as her personal journey of self-growth, as factors that have shaped her career as a public speaking expert. Now, she is sharing her insights and advice on how to create a meaningful career. In addition to her Women in Tech role, she made her debut as a Ted Talk presenter in Hong Kong. Quite a GBJ success story, as chronicled by GBJ's Elin Joensson.
And congratulations to everyone in the GBJ family to Maria on her recent marriage!!!
GBJ's global content partnership: Bakhtawar Tauseef is the latest Tsinghuaer published on IJNet website
GBJ's partnership with the International Journalists' Network has deepened with the publication of Bakhtawar Tauseef's in-depth report on free economic data sources available on the internet. Bakhtawar, a GBJ student from Pakistan who just completed her first year in the program, becomes the third GBJer (and the first student) to join the publishing partnership between IJNet and GBJ. Co-director Rick Dunham and visiting professor Cary O'Reilly have already written stories for the new project on the IJNet website.
GBJ and IJNet are creating an economic reporting toolkit that will be available to reporters and journalism students worldwide to help them better understand and write about business and economic issues. Their stories will be published on both the IJNet site and GlobalBusinessJournalism.com. In addition, the GBJ website is creating a deep collection of how-to articles on subject matter coverage of various business issues on its new "Economic Journalism Tips" page.
Professor Dunham's story described "How to write a business or economics story like a pro." He provided a detailed description of the elements required for a high-quality business journalism article. Professor O'Reilly wrote a story on "How to cover global trade like a pro: Tariffs edition." He explained the whats and whys behind tariffs and offered story ideas.
GBJ and IJNet are both projects of the International Center for Journalists. ICFJ is the managing partner of the GBJ program. If you would like to contribute a story to this series, please contact Professor Dunham.
Alumni novelist: 2018 grad Ali Farman has two novels translated into English for global audience
It's been a big year for Global Business Journalism alumnus Ali Farman. The 2018 graduate from Pakistan moved from Beijing to Bochum, Germany, to continue his burgeoning writing career. And he is celebrating the publication of his second novel, "The Sky Is Not Mine," and the translation of his first two novels from his native Sindhi language into English.
Both novels, "The Sky Is Not Mine" and "Save Our Songs" are available through the Amazon websites in the United States, United Kingdom or Canda.
Here's a taste of what "The Sky Is Not Mine" is all about:
Every story begins somewhere, but this one begins in a little bookshop called Rusty Quill.
From the scent of old pages to the freshness of new ones, from dance floors and art festivals to the wild landscapes of British Columbia and the aurora-lit nights over Lake Muncho, this is a journey that touches hearts and crosses borders.
It meanders through the poetic streets of Heidelberg, entwining with the stories of migrants, students, and a girl named Clara chasing laughter and light through stand-up comedy. Then, it climbs higher—into the quiet majesty of the Austrian and Swiss Alps.
And what comes next? That’s for you to discover.
Ali, 37, grew up in Pahar Khan Jamali, a village in southeastern Pakistan. He earned a bachelor's and master's degree at the University of Sindh in literature. He had started a second master's in media and communication studies at the same university when he heard a rumor about a very lucrative scholarship given to Pakistani students who want to study in China.
“I checked the homepage of the Chinese Government Scholarship and saw the Global Business Journalism program at Tsinghua University," he told classmate Martin Larsen for a profile story written in 2016. "It really caught my attention.”
Ali enrolled in the GBJ program. The rest is history.
>>> Check out Ali's website
Alexandre Guéry explains Chinese science fiction movies to the French-speaking world
Global Business Journalism reporter Alexandre Guéry has excelled as a student and a journalist in English during his first year in the GBJ program at Tsinghua. But in his spare time, he has continued to make a name for himself in his native French. He has performed on some of CCTV' signature entertainment shows and he has offered cogent analysis of cultural topics for Chinese media. His latest effort is an analysis of recent science fiction movies produced in China for China Today's French website, La Chine au Présent. Alex explains how Hollywood took the lead with science fiction movies at the end of the 20th century, from "Blade Runner" to "The Matrix." But over the past decade, Chinese movie-makers have offered up big-budget hits that are attracting global attention and international audiences.
Check out our latest journalism tipsheets, from writing strong leads to covering corporate finance
Here are some other stories we've published on our website since our last newsletter, in case you've missed them:
Thanks for reading the June GBJ newsletter. We'll be back with more news and updates from students, alumni and faculty next month. If you want to be the first to read each GBJ newsletter, subscribe here and receive an email notification when a new newsletter is published.
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