On August 4, Anne F. Harris, President of Grinnell College in the United States led a delegation to visit Nanjing University. Tan Zhemin, President of Nanjing University and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, met with Harris and her delegation at the Xianlin Campus. The two sides held discussions on deepening cooperation between the two universities.

Tan Zhemin extended a warm welcome to the Grinnell College delegation on behalf of NJU. He introduced the university's history, discipline development, campus construction, integration of industry, academia, and research, as well as its internationalization efforts. Tan Zhemin emphasized NJU's commitment to promoting international exchange and cooperation and highlighted its established strong partnerships with several American universities. He noted that the cooperation between Grinnell College and NJU has a long history and enduring friendship, playing a crucial role in promoting mutual high-quality development. Over the years, the two universities have carried out extensive collaboration in areas such as faculty exchange, academic research, and foundational education, achieving a series of significant outcomes. Tan Zhemin expressed hope for a deeper partnership between NJU and Grinnell College, fostering further exchanges among faculty and students, and anticipating a lasting friendship and joint progress between the two institutions to ensure steady and sustainable collaborative development.

Anne F. Harris provided an overview of Grinnell College and reviewed the profound history of collaborative ties between the two universities. She pointed out that Grinnell College and NJU have long encouraged faculty and student exchanges, fostering mutual understanding of different cultures and creating a bridge for multicultural exchange. With a strong foundation and vast potential for collaboration in areas such as scientific research, talent cultivation, integration of industry and education, and faculty and student exchanges, Harris expressed her expectation that the two universities will seize new opportunities, continue expanding and deepening exchanges and cooperative efforts across multiple fields, and jointly write a new chapter of collaborative development.

Representatives at the meeting engaged in in-depth discussions and exchanges on topics such as the impact of artificial intelligence on higher education, innovation in general education reforms, and furthering faculty and student exchanges.

In the afternoon, Harris and her delegation held a special discussion with visiting scholars and Chinese language instructors from NJU who had previously participated in exchange programs at Grinnell College. NJU and Grinnell College signed their first cooperation agreement in 1987 and have engaged in highly productive collaborations in the nearly 40 years since in areas such as faculty exchange and academic discussions.