On September 8, Professor Manohar Ratnam of Wayne State University, USA, visited Okayama University as a representative of Wayne State University and paid a courtesy call to President NASU Yasutomo.

Wayne State University, located in Detroit, Michigan, USA, was founded as a public research university founded in 1868. Wayne State University and Okayama University signed a university-level agreement in 2016. Before COVID-19, the two universities actively engaged in student and faculty exchanges. However, due to the pandemic in recent years, it has been difficult to implement various activities under the agreement.

During the visit, President NASU, Professor ONO Atsushi and Associate Professor KAKUTA Hiroki of the　Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences attended the meeting to discuss the future of exchange between the two universities and the possibility of a new human resource development program, following the renewal of the exchange agreement between the two universities in August.

This visit is expected to lead to the resumption of the exchange program and the further development of exchange between the two universities.