唐宁在南方大学荣誉博士学位授予仪式上的英文演讲：“国际化的人文教育给我人生以支点”

一个人的成功从来都不是偶然的，需要天赋、需要勤奋、需要视野、需要机遇。而一个人求学和实习的经历，会在未来的漫长人生里，成为指引方向的灯塔，成为奠定成功的基石，成为人生发展的支点。 23年前，他从北京大学转学来到美国南方大学，第一次接触到国际化的人文教育。 21年前，在全世界最贫困的孟加拉国，他在暑期实习时第一次接触到了能改变当地贫困妇女生活的小额贷款。 20年前，他从南方大学毕业后，在校友推荐下，投身华尔街顶级投行。 15年前，他开始从事风险投资行业，帮助初创公司成长为商业巨擘。 12年前，他创建了宜信，同时服务中国最富有和最贫穷人群，致力于让信用社会在中国落地，让资产配置在中国落地。 他是中国金融科技领军企业宜信公司创始人、CEO唐宁先生。 因为唐宁先生的成就，美国中部时间今年10月12日，他的美国母校、拥有150年悠久历史的南方大学授予其荣誉博士学位。

以下为唐宁在荣誉博士授予仪式上的演讲实录： Distinguished members of the board of regents and the board of trustees, distinguished members of the faculty, staff, students of the College and the School of Theology, other distinguished guests: 尊敬的各位校董事会、理事会成员，尊敬的全体教职员工、老师们、同学们，各位贵宾： Thank you. Thank you very much. 大家好！感谢各位！ It’s my great honor to be here and receive this very special recognition. I am truly humbled and grateful. It’s so nice to be back home with all of you. 很荣幸今天在这里获此殊荣，受宠若惊之余，我的心中更是满怀感激。回到母校，与各位欢聚一堂的感觉真好。 I first came to the mountain in summer 1995, as a transfer student from Beijing, China. Before coming to Sewanee, I had spent all my school years studying mathematics and eventually made to China’s national team for the 1992 mathematical Olympics. Unfortunately, I was No.8 and the top 6 fellow students went to Moscow and all won gold medals. So, when I made it to Sewanee, I had no idea about what a liberal arts education could offer. Today, I can say for sure: a liberal arts education is key for someone who wishes to develop into a full person, someone who can appreciate the world better and also shoulder key responsibilities that an increasingly challenging world demands. The courses that I took, in Shakespeare, Fine Art, Music, etc. helped me tremendously when I later became a venture capital investor and an entrepreneur. I started to invest in early stage companies in 2003, when there were very few VC firms in China. My job was to figure out whether a startup could become giant 10 years down the road. When I founded CreditEase in 2006, my job was to grow it from zero to great with very limited resources. What makes a company great? I do not think it’s business model; I think it’s about people, about integrity, social purpose, diversity, openness, innovative culture, and for all those I have drawn great strength from what I learned at Sewanee. My great friend and leading venture capitalist in China, Quan Zhou, Managing Partner of IDG Capital, once said that, based on his 25 years of experience in reading, judging entrepreneurs and investors, people with liberal arts background stand a better chance to succeed in business and in life. I cannot agree with him more. In my view, a liberal arts college graduate can do anything and excel. He or she will not be limited at all by lacking specific skills which can always be learned later. 1995年夏天，我从中国北京大学转学过来，第一次来到这里。在此之前，我所有的时间都在学习数学，最终于1992年入选奥林匹克数学竞赛中国国家集训队。遗憾的是当时我只获得了第八名，而只有前六名的同学才能去莫斯科参赛，当年他们都拿到了金牌。所以，当我来到南方大学时，对于人文学科会教什么一无所知。但是今天，我可以很肯定地说，人文教育是一个人全面发展的关键，是一个人更好地认识世界、欣赏世界的关键，更是一个人在面对日益增多的挑战时能承担起重要责任的关键。我在这里所学的课程，文学、艺术、音乐等等，在我后来成为风险投资人和企业家的道路上发挥了巨大的作用。从2003年起，我开始做风险投资，当时中国的风险投资公司还很少。我的工作是去辨识一家初创公司能否在未来十年成长为商业巨擘。2006年我创办了宜信。如何以有限的资源，实现公司从零到卓越的成长，是我当时的主要工作。是什么成就了伟大的企业呢？我想，并不是商业模式，而是人，是诚信正直、社会价值、多样性、开放性和创新的文化。所有的这一切我都从在南方大学的学习中汲取了巨大的能量。我的好友——中国顶尖风险投资家、IDG资本管理合伙人周全曾说，基于他25年的阅人经验（识别创业者和投资人），具有人文教育背景的人更有可能在商业世界和人生中获得成功。对此我非常之赞同。就我看来，一名人文学科的毕业生可以胜任各类工作，并脱颖而出。他/她不会因不具备某项专业技能而受到局限，因为技能是可以后续学到的。