哥大法學院以「美國首位華人律師張康仁」命名中國法律研究中心

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2020年註定會被歷史銘記。蔓延全球的新冠疫情、此起彼伏的種族矛盾和反全球化的浪潮刷新著我們對世界的認知，也重新錨定我們發展的方向。

對於哥倫比亞大學來說，儘管面臨著種種前所未有的巨大挑戰，藉助對哥大全球中心運營範圍的調整，哥倫比亞大學在秋季學期正式推行國際學生服務計劃，在中國大陸及港澳臺地區的12座城市啟用學習空間，為哥倫比亞大學的全球社群建設提供更多機會。在這個遠離校園、遠程教學的特殊時期，同學們依舊可以度過一段有哥大溫度的學習時光。

12月3日，哥倫比亞大學校長李·布林格致信美國當選總統拜登，強烈呼籲糾正聯邦政府對美國高校開展國際間交流的持續打擊，為國際學生學者赴美學習和交流提供政策支持。這是對哥大追求開放的學術交流和互相學習的態度的又一次明確，是對互相了解與合作共贏的矢志不渝的追求與努力。

2020年的最後一個月，我們又迎來了一個重磅好消息，哥倫比亞大學法學院中國法律研究中心將於明年1月起正式更名為「張康仁中國法律研究中心」。該中心將秉持聚集中美兩國法律相關人士，達成深度認同和共識的初衷，繼續大力推進中美法律創新研究和交流。本次命名由哥大89屆校友、前阿里巴巴集團總法律顧問石義德及夫人張莉霞發起，並會同近一百位哥大法學院校友的支持。張康仁中國法律研究中心將使哥大推進中美法律創新研究和交流的努力迎來更深刻的發展。

美國東部時間12月16日哥倫比亞大學法學院院長Gillian Lester宣布，哥倫比亞大學法學院中國法律研究中心將於2021年1月1日起正式以哥大法學院1886屆畢業生、第一位獲得美國律師執業資格的美籍華人張康仁命名，更名為哥大張康仁中國法律研究中心。

此次金額達500萬美金的命名捐贈由前阿里巴巴集團總法律顧問、哥大法學院89屆校友石義徳（Tom Steinert） 和夫人張莉霞發起，近100位哥大法學院的校友參與，其中主要捐贈者包括李錄』96、魏群』84、李小加』91、夏廷康』97、孫湛』89、孫瑋』89等。

這筆捐贈將使哥大法學院進一步推動在中國法相關領域的研究活動，尤其專注於將學術研究和解決實際問題結合起來。同時，它也確保了學院能夠繼續培育更多中國法律學者。

圖 張康仁

Credit: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

哥大法學院中國法律研究中心由哥大法學院名譽教授、中國法研究泰鬥愛德華（R. Randle Edwards）於1983年設立，是美國首個該領域的學術研究中心。在他的領導下，中心產出了許多重量級研究成果，培育了一代又一代的中國法研究人才，極大地促進了中美間學術互動與交流。

哥倫比亞大學全球項目校長顧問委員會委員石義德談到，「對於我們很多在美中法律和商業相關領域工作的人來說，哥大中國法律研究中心是我們職業生涯的起點。愛德華教授作為中心的傑出領袖，對增進美中兩國間的相互了解做出了巨大貢獻」。

時至今日，哥大中國法律研究中心已經成為了享譽世界的學術研究機構，匯聚了大批來自全世界的學生學者。中心始終支持中國法及相關領域的學術研究項目，它也成為了哥倫比亞大學中國學生及討論中國相關議題的重要聚點。

「時至今日，哥大法學院中國法律研究中心始終發揮著至關重要的作用。」——Benjamin Liebman

哥大法學院Robert L. Lieff法學講席教授、現哥大法學院中國法律研究中心主任、哥大全球中心 | 北京教授指導委員會主席李本（Benjamin Liebman）也向此次捐贈中鼎力支持的校友們表示衷心感謝：「中國法律研究中心的蓬勃發展得益於我們一代又一代的中國及華裔學生、學者。張康仁跨越阻礙遠渡重洋，繼而成為我們第一位來自中國的學生、第一位華裔律師，以他的名字來命名中心再合適不過了。」

哥大法學院院長、Lucy G. Moses法學講席教授Gillian Lester說：「國際法和比較法一直是哥大引以為傲的學科，這其中就包括我們對中國法的研究教學。此次捐贈讓人們認識到一直以來沒有被關注到的、由哥大法學院校友張康仁所留下的巨大遺產，並延續愛德華教授四十年前創立該中心的初衷——即聚集中美兩國的法律界人士，達成一個更具深度的認同和共識。同時，這也標誌著哥大法學院將繼續歡迎來自中國及世界各地的學生成為學校的中堅力量。」

圖 張康仁，1879屆赴美學生

Credit: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

張康仁於1860年前後出生於中國廣東。1872年父親去世後，張康仁作為大清首批留美幼童之一來到美國，先後就讀於麻薩諸塞州的Phillips Academy Andover和耶魯大學，後被哥大法學院錄取。1886年5月，張康仁以優異成績從哥大畢業，卻因為種族問題而飽受歧視。通過兩年的不懈努力，最終他於1888年通過紐約州立法機關的特別法案獲得紐約的律師資格證。

作為律師，張康仁一直希望能夠服務舊金山更大的華裔群體。他於1890年搬到了加州，希望取得加州的律師資格，但他的申請因為當時美國聯邦政府實施的排華法案而被拒絕。雖經歷這次重大挫折，張康仁的職業生涯在外交、金融及學術領域卻建樹頗豐。

張康仁早年曾加入中國外交團隊，擔任中國駐華盛頓大使館代辦。此外，他還是一位銀行家，參與了加州伯克利中國海軍的培訓直至1920年退休。張康仁於1926年在伯克利去世，留下了他的妻子餘愛媂（Charlotte Ah Tye Chang）和兩個孩子，Ora和Oliver。

圖 第二排左二為張康仁身著西服，時任上海銀行金庫總會計師。(Credit: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens)

2015年，在加州大學戴維斯法學院亞太美國法學生會（APALSA）及指導老師趙健民(Gabriel「Jack」Chin) 教授的努力下，張康仁被加州律師公會追授律師資格。APALSA提交給加州最高法院的請願書得到了時任哥大法學院院長David M. Schizer的支持。3月15日，加州最高法院作出裡程碑式的最終決定 (60 Cal.4th 1169 [2015])：推翻歷經125年，象徵著排斥華裔種族的1890年拒絕張康仁律師資格申請的決定。

張康仁曾侄女同時也是首位同時被美國聯邦通信委員會和加州公共事業委員會聘用的亞裔律師鍾偉珍（Rachelle Chong）說：「作為張康仁的後代，我們衷心感念哥大法學院給予如此殊榮，以我們先輩的名字命名哥大中國法律研究中心。毫無疑問，如果張康仁知道此事一定也會非常高興，因為他一生都致力於集結來自中國和美國的律師、外交家、政治家和企業家並促進和推動兩國的相互認識與和諧相處。」

自1858年成立伊始，哥大法學院持續鼓勵創新，為法律界源源不斷的注入活力。校友們創辦了國際律師事務所，主張公民權利和人權保護，贏得了許多史無前例的官司，引領多國貿易，主導國際事務。哥大法學院的畢業生在全球範圍內的法律、金融、學術界、人權、司法、國際事務及技術領域均佔有舉足輕重的地位。

Gillian Lester, Dean and Lucy G. Moses Professor of Law, announced that Columbia Law School’s Center for Chinese Legal Studies will be named in honor of the school’s first Chinese graduate, Hong Yen Chang, who graduated from Columbia Law School in 1886 and later became the first Chinese American to be admitted as a lawyer in the United States. As of January 1, 2021, the center will be known as the Hong Yen Chang Center for Chinese Legal Studies (張康仁 中國法律研究中心).

The naming is made possible through a new $5 million endowment led by Tim Steinert 』89, former general counsel of Alibaba Group, and his wife, Lixia Zhang. The fund garnered nearly 100 other contributions from dedicated Law School alumni, including leadership donors Li Lu 』96, Chun Wei 』84 LL.M., Charles Li 』91, Tim Xia 』97, Jon Christianson 』89 and Wei Sun Christianson 』89.

The first academic center of its kind in the United States, Columbia Law’s Center for Chinese Legal Studies was founded in 1983 by R. Randle 「Randy」 Edwards, Walter Gellhorn Professor Emeritus of Law, a preeminent authority on Chinese law. Under his leadership, the center produced influential scholarship, fostered scholarly exchanges between China and the United States, and trained generations of students in Chinese law.

「For many of us, the Center for Chinese Legal Studies, previously under the inspiring leadership of Professor Randy Edwards, has been the foundation of our careers at the intersection of U.S.-China legal and business relations,」 said Steinert, who serves on the Columbia World Projects President’s Council. 「Randy’s contribution to mutual understanding between the two countries has been enormous.」

Today, the center is a world-renowned intellectual hub, bringing together law students and scholars from around the world and supporting research and programming in Chinese Law and related topics. It also serves as a focal point for Chinese students and for China-related activity at Columbia.

「I am deeply grateful to our alumni for their generous support,」 said Benjamin L. Liebman, Robert L. Lieff Professor of Law and the center’s director since 2002. 「Our community has been strengthened immeasurably by generations of students and scholars from China, as well as by generations of Asian Americans. How fitting, then, that we name the center in honor of our very first Chinese student, someone who overcame numerous barriers to become the first student from China and first Chinese American admitted to practice law.

「The center’s work remains as vital today as it has ever been,」 said Liebman.

The endowment will allow Columbia Law to expand offerings of events related to Chinese law, with a particular focus on deepening linkages between academia and real-world problem-solving. It also will assure that the school can continue to cultivate generations of scholars of Chinese law.

「The study of international and comparative law, particularly Chinese law, has long been a source of pride for Columbia,」 said Dean Lester. 「This new endowment is an opportunity to herald the often-overlooked legacy of a pathbreaking Columbia Law alumnus in Hong Yen Chang and to further the work that Professor Edwards began almost 40 years ago: to bring members of the U.S. and Chinese legal communities together to generate a deeper, more common understanding. It is also a sign that Columbia Law School will continue to be open to students from around the world, including China, who add so much to our community.」

Chang was born in Guangdong, China, in 1859 or 1860, and, after his father died, came to the United States in 1872 as part of the Chinese Educational Mission, a program to educate outstanding Chinese boys with academic promise. He attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, as well as Yale College, prior to enrolling at Columbia Law School. He graduated with high honors in May 1886, and after a two-year pursuit to be admitted to the New York Bar—drawn out due to the discrimination he faced on the basis of race—he was finally admitted by special act of the New York State legislature in 1888.

In hopes of serving the large Chinese community of San Francisco as a lawyer, Chang moved to California in 1890 and sought admission to the California State Bar, but he was denied under the federal Chinese Exclusion Act.

Despite this significant setback, Chang went on to chart a successful and distinguished career in diplomacy, banking, and academics. Early in his career, he joined the Chinese Diplomatic Service, rising to the role of chargé d'affaires at the Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C. He was a banker and then taught trainees of the Chinese navy in Berkeley, California, until his retirement in 1920. He died in 1926 in Berkeley, leaving a wife, Charlotte Ah Tye Chang, and two children, Ora and Oliver.

In 2015, Chang was granted posthumous admission to the California State Bar, following advocacy efforts by the University of California, Davis School of Law’s Asian Pacific American Law Students Association and the group’s faculty adviser, Professor Gabriel 「Jack」 Chin. The petition they submitted to the Supreme Court of California was supported by then-Columbia Law School Dean David M. Schizer and was granted by the court in a landmark March 15, 2015, decision.In re Hong Yen Chang on Admission(60 Cal.4th 1169 [2015]) overturned the 1890 decision that had stood for Chinese racial exclusion in the law for 125 years.

「On behalf of the Hong Yen Chang descendants, we humbly thank Columbia Law School for the unexpected and enormous honor of bestowing my ancestor’s name to the distinguished Center for Chinese Legal Studies,」 said Rachelle Chong, Chang’s great-grandniece and a nationally known California regulatory attorney who was herself the first Asian American appointed to both the Federal Communications Commission and the California Public Utilities Commission. 「Without question, Hong Yen Chang would have been delighted that the center would bear his name, as he spent most of his life bringing together American and Chinese lawyers, diplomats, politicians, and businesspeople in the furtherance of mutual understanding and peaceful interaction.」

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Since its founding in 1858, Columbia Law School has been a driver of ideas and innovation that have shaped the legal community. Alumni have launched international law firms, advocated for civil and human rights, won precedent-setting cases, led multinational businesses, and shaped world affairs. Columbia Law School graduates occupy influential roles globally in law, finance, academia, human rights, the judiciary, international affairs, and technology.

哥倫比亞大學全球中心成立於2009年，由哥倫比亞大學校長李·布林格在全球九個城市發起設立。哥大全球中心網絡致力於讓全校師生在更廣闊的範圍內開展跨學科、跨地區的教學和研究，為迎接21世紀全球化所帶來的挑戰和機遇搭建一個重要的聯動平臺。

哥大全球中心 | 北京旨在發揮哥倫比亞大學卓越的學術研究能力，在中國地區開展豐富的學術項目，並為區域發展提供建議、評估和策略方案。中心將哥倫比亞大學帶到中國，加強哥大與中國的學術交流與合作，同時也將中國的最新發展動態和人才帶回到哥大的校園中，催生新的學習和研究。