UT’s Confucius Institute held its grand opening with a ribbon cutting at the International House on April 12, 2013. Having an institute on campus was a collaborative effort between UT; Southeast University in Nanjing, China; and HANBAN, a subsidiary of the Chinese Ministry of Education. Dr. Shih-Lung Shaw, professor of geography, was the inaugural director of the nonprofit entity. UT began the process of obtaining a Confucius Institute two years previously, becoming the third Tennessee university to host an institute.