November 22, 2010

Contact:   John Syme

Brown Professor of Political Science Shelley Rigger (photo by David Boraks)

Shelley Rigger, Brown Professor of Political Science at Davidson College, has been elected to the Board of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. Carla Hills, former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, chairs the committee. Former U.S. Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright sit on the board as well.

"The NCUSCR, or National Committee, has played a big role in modern U.S.-China relations from the very beginning," Rigger said. "In the early 1970s, it organized the ping-pong matches that were the first opening of modern U.S.-China communication. It has always been very important in keeping U.S.-China relations on track, especially at times when government-to-government relations were strained."

The National Committee's role has evolved through the decades from that seminal "ping-pong diplomacy" to a broad array of educational initiatives and support for American and Chinese diplomats, government officials, scholars, scientists, policymakers, business leaders and citizens.

Rigger has worked on projects with the National Committee for a decade, often focusing on her area of expertise, Taiwan. "The importance of Taiwan has not diminished in the time I have studied its history, culture and relations with both the U.S. and China. If anything, Taiwan's importance might be increasing," she said.

When Rigger was in Taiwan in 2005, a group of young China scholars visited her apartment to learn about Taiwan, an example of the type of relationships that are important in National Committee efforts. More recently, Rigger has participated the past three summers in National Committee seminars on Chinese affairs for military leaders in the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force. Both retired Colonel Albert Willner and Bernard "Bud" Cole from the National War College have called Rigger "the number one specialist" in her field.

"Today the U.S. and China have a robust diplomatic, governmental and economic relationship," she said. "The National Committee still exists because it has longstanding credibility as a well-intentioned party to promote communication and understanding -- with no other agenda. It is a privilege to serve."

Rigger earned her bachelor's degree from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and her doctorate from the Department of Government at Harvard. Since joining the Davidson faculty in 1993, she has written two scholarly books on Taiwan, and she currently is working on a book for general readers titled Why Taiwan Matters.

Davidson is a highly selective independent liberal arts college for 1,900 students located 20 minutes north of Charlotte in Davidson, N.C. Since its establishment in 1837 by Presbyterians, the college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars and is consistently regarded as one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country. Through The Davidson Trust, the college became the first liberal arts institution in the nation to replace loans with grants in all financial aid packages, giving all students the opportunity to graduate debt-free. Davidson competes in NCAA athletics at the Division I level, and a longstanding Honor Code is central to student life at the college.

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