Understanding Asia Through the Voyages of St. Francis Xavier - The Learning Foundation of Our Institute's Programs
Our Purpose
The purpose of the Lii-Haybyrne Institute for Asian Studies is to promote cross-cultural understanding and appreciation of Asia’s diversity and complexity to selected Jesuit High School faculty and students. The Institute will ensure that the student is adequately immersed in Indian, Japanese and Chinese culture, sympathetic to each of their fascinating and complex environments and will be prepared for more advanced learning in university settings. We want to challenge a student’s thinking and aspirations as captured in these words by Sir Francis Drake, the first person to circumnavigate the earth in a single expedition 1577-1580: “Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well-pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little, when we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore …”
Our Values that Guide our Choice of Schools to support
We support those Jesuit high schools where students are viewed as fundamentally equal, regardless of their backgrounds or characteristics, so there is no need to place them on a hierarchy of oppression or victimization. The school we support focuses on the commonality of its students— past, present, and future. It maintains that it will provide students with a challenging, structured, and merit based academic curriculum that views all students as equal children of God, deserving of the best education possible.
Students We Seek From Jesuit Schools
The type of student who would be best served by our Institute's program in Asian Studies is one who is curious, open-minded, and academically inclined. They should have a genuine interest in Asian cultures, history, and languages, and be motivated to deepen their understanding in these areas. Students who possess strong critical thinking skills, cultural sensitivity, and an ability to communicate effectively are also likely to thrive in our program. We will support students who have a passion for learning about Asia, are eager to engage with its diverse perspectives, and who will contribute to a successful and enriching experience for all involved.
How We Achieve Our Purpose
The Institute will promote cultural exchange by supporting students to live in India, Japan or China for three weeks in a year. To prepare the students to live in these countries for three weeks, the Institute will host cultural events, such as performances, exhibitions, and lectures, that showcase the art, music, literature, and other aspects of Asian culture. Overall, the Institute for Asian Studies aims to play an important role in promoting greater understanding and engagement with the diverse and dynamic region of Asia, and in preparing students and faculty for learning and living in a global context.
What we offer Jesuit High School Students
I. The Anthony S. Aracich, S.J. Fellowship for Asian Studies
Each year a Fellowship will be offered by the Institute to no more than 20 distinguished Xavier or other Jesuit High School students. The Fellowship will include a range of activities and components to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of three Asian countries : India, Japan and China. Aracich Fellows will live and study in one of the three countries for a period of three weeks during their Fellowship
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II. The Colonel Donald G. Cook '52, USMC, MOH Language Scholarship
Each year qualified Students will have the opportunity to learn an Asian language such as Hindi, Japanese, or Chinese thus enabling students to engage more deeply with the culture and people of one of the three countries. The focus will be on developing conversation level skills useful in practical day to day living in the country.
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The Colonel Donald G. Cook ’52, USMC, MOH Language Scholarship
The Colonel Donald G. Cook ’52, USMC, MOH Language Scholarship is named in honor of Don Cook who was born in Brooklyn, New York. A member of the Xavier High School Class of 1952, he went on to St.
Michael’s College in Vermont. Shortly after his college graduation in 1956, Cook
enlisted in the Marine Corps. With his JROTC training at Xavier and exceptional
leadership ability, he was soon sent to Officer Candidate School in Quantico,
Virginia. In 1960, he attended Army Language School in Monterey, California,
excelling in his study of Chinese and graduating near the top of his class.
In 1964, then-Captain Cook was sent to South Vietnam, where he served as an
advisor to the Vietnamese Marine Division until he was captured by the Viet Cong.
He was held as a prisoner of war from December 31, 1964, until his death from
malaria on December 8, 1967. Fellow prisoners remembered him putting the
interests of others above his own, giving more needy men his medicine and drug
allowance and caring for them as his own health declined. A man of deep faith and
deep loyalty, he refused to stray from the military Code of Conduct, earning the
respect of his fellow prisoners—and his captors as well.
Cook was posthumously promoted to Colonel and in 1980, he was posthumously
awarded the Medal of Honor. The medal was presented to his family by a fellow
Xavier graduate, Secretary of the Navy Edward Hidalgo (1929). Donald Cook’s
legacy of heroism and being a man for others, lives on at various institutions,
including Xavier High School where the Cook Library bears his name.
III. The John Courtney Murray (1920), S. J. Ateneo de Manila Lecture series
Culture experts, scholars, and professionals in the field of Asian studies will be invited to deliver guest lectures and conduct workshops to enhance the students' understanding of Asia in general and India, Japan and China in particular. These sessions will cover a variety of topics, including current events, socio -political issues, and cultural practices.
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Our Founders & Managing Directors
James B. Haybyrne
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Strategic Thinking Group
www.StrategicThinker.com
Jim (Xavier '62) has spent over forty years in international management consulting and has lived and worked in over 35 countries, including living for several years in each of our oldest continuous civilizations...Egypt, China, India, and Japan. He formerly was a Partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers responsible for consulting assignments with a specific focus on Asia.
He is the author of Dream. Think. Become. Essays for the Mind of a Strategic Thinker, and holds a Master of Science Degree in Systems Management and a Master of Science Degree in Organization Development from the University of Southern California.
He is a member of the Governing Committee of Prince of Wales Hospital, an 1100 bed teaching hospital in Hong Kong. He was a Captain in the United States Air Force and served two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kerala, India, working in small scale industry development.
Jim is a citizen of both the Republic of Ireland and the United States of America. He and Penny are Permanent Residents of Hong Kong, where their Institute is headquartered.
Penny (Lii Sheau Ping), a science graduate of National Taiwan University, founded PLH Fashion Group. In 1984, she spotted an opportunity in the market for a company capable of offering competitively-priced top quality samples and full production runs for edgy, young fashion brands.
Today, PLH, the company that bears her name, has offices in Hong Kong and Taiwan and production centres throughout Asia.
Over the years, PLH has become partner of choice for instantly recognizable fashion icons such as COACH, J. Crew, Urban Outfitter, Lilly Pulitzer, Abercrombie & Fitch, Cath Kidston, Lulu Guinness, who all rely on PLH's expertise and unrivalled supplier and manufacturer network in Asia.
Our Board of Governors
The purpose of our Board of Governors is to provide oversight, guidance, and strategic direction to ensure that our Institute fulfils its mission and operates in the best interests of all stakeholders.
Henry Steiner
FounderSteiner & Co.
Henry Steiner
Founder of Steiner & Co.
“We are here to make ordinary objects extraordinary – pleasant, useful, witty and sometimes inspiring. What matters is to send through our craft modest messages which others will receive as saying: somebody cared about this.”
- Henry Steiner
Austrian–Jewish by descent, Henry Steiner was born in Vienna and raised in New York. Steiner was educated at Yale under the mentorship of renowned educator, Paul Rand.
Steiner began his career in advertising, and later as design director of The Asia Magazine. In 1961, Steiner signed a nine-month contract for the magazine's launch in Hong Kong where he started Graphic Communication (now Steiner&Co.) in 1964. It has become one of the world’s leading branding design consultancies. He has since made Hong Kong his home.
Linda A. Smith
President & FounderLinda A. Smith & Associates
Linda A. Smith
President & Founder of Linda A. Smith & Associates
Linda is an Executive Leadership Coach in global management consulting. With a remarkable career spanning 25 years, Linda has provided coaching services to Fortune 100 executives and their teams across diverse geographical markets.
Linda has worked with clients from a wide range of industries, including financial services, private equity, hedge funds, pharmaceuticals, food companies, medical products, industrial products, and beauty products. She has worked with esteemed organisations such as Sony, Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase, Microsoft, and PepsiCo. Her expertise lies in specialized coaching programs for Executive Leaders, New Leaders, and Transformational initiatives.
Linda served six years as a Member of the Board of Trustees of Xavier High School , New York City.
Elliot Han
PartnerPGP Capital Advisors
Elliot Han
Partner of PGP Capital Advisors
Elliot Han (Xavier ‘94) graduated from Columbia University with a BA in Classics and Biology. He graduated from Oxford University with a Master’s degree in Classics and received his law & MA degrees from Cambridge University, where he was a Cambridge Overseas Trust Scholar. Elliot was a member of the Board of Trustees at Xavier High School, New York City.
Elliot is a Partner at PGP Capital Advisors, covering a variety of sectors with an emphasis on Digital Assets. He focuses on mergers & acquisitions, corporate finance advisory, and equity & debt capital raisings, both in the domestic and international arena. Elliot has more than 15 years of financial, legal, and start-up experience, where he has closed over 100 transactions with a total value over $120bn.
Prof. Geoffrey Lieu
CHAIRMAN EMERITUSInstitute For Health Policy
Prof. Geoffrey Lieu
CHAIRMAN EMERITUS of Institute For Health Policy
Professor Lieu, who lives in both Hong Kong and the USA, is an experienced healthcare executive and specialist in hospital management, health systems development, and reform. He received his postgraduate education in hospital management at the Washington University, in St Louis, School of Medicine as well as international health planning and development at The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health.
He has held top executive positions in community and teaching hospitals both in the U.S. and overseas, including leading and managing the Hong Kong Hospital Authority public hospital reforms that gained international renown and recognition.
Our Team of Advisors
We have assembled a talented and experienced team of advisors to help shape the students and faculty learning experience.
M. Antoni J. Ucerler, S.J.
(D.Phil.)Special Advisor Asian-Western Cultural History
Professor Ucerler is a Jesuit priest, an historian of premodern Japan, and Director of the Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History at Boston College. He is also co-editor of the Brill monograph series, Studies in the History of Christianity in East Asia. His research focuses primarily on the intellectual history of Christianity in Japan and the connected histories that marked the arrival of Europeans in other East Asian countries. His interests include the study of the manuscript and printed sources that were produced through these intercultural and inter-religious encounters as well as other examples of material and visual culture, including engravings, maps, and artwork. His most recent study, The Samurai and the Cross: The Jesuit Enterprise in Early Modern Japan (2022) explores three interconnected themes from the perspective of global intellectual history: European philosophy and theology in Classical Japanese translation; the question of persecution and 16th-/17th-century debates over just war theory; and how “reason of state” informed both European and Japanese responses to other cultures in the early Edo period. He has previously taught at Sophia University (Tokyo), the University of Oxford, Georgetown University, and the University of San Francisco.
Dr. Herbert M. Berg
Education Advisor (Ed.D.)
Dr. Herbert M. Berg Education Advisor (Ed.D.) Dr. Berg holds a Doctoral Degree in Education Leadership from Washington State University (WSU). Dr. Berg is an esteemed leader in public education with over 45 years of experience with 37 years as a Superintendent in Public Education, serving various school districts in the State of Washington and more recently in South Carolina and Virginia, where he was Superintendent of Alexandria City Public Schools. Herb’s expertise extends beyond the United States, as he acted as a Consultant to the United States State Department, contributing to the improvement of American schools in various cities in China and Mongolia. The Shanghai American School, in particular, became one of the best international schools in the world. His achievements in education have earned him numerous accolades, including being named Superintendent of the Year in South Carolina on two occasions. He has also received the WSU Distinguished Service Award and has been recognized as one of the "Top 100 North American Executive Educators" by Executive Educators Magazine. Currently, he serves as the Chair of the Education Committee for the Society of the Cincinnati in Washington, DC, and is involved in philanthropic and educational support through The "One O One" Club in Seattle, Washington.
Dr. Timothy J. McNiff
Education Advisor (Ed.D.)
With a proven track record of leadership and transformation, Dr. Timothy J. McNiff has made a significant impact on education in New York City and beyond. He provided leadership in New York City to transform the Archdiocese of New York Catholic schools system, one of the largest school systems in the United States. Tim successfully accomplished a system realignment through the executive management of organizational finances, institutional advancement, personnel, marketing innovations and improved academic services. Prior to his work in New York, Tim led a variety of diverse school systems with unique organizational challenges and community characteristics. In one notable instance, he facilitated remarkable growth by establishing 10 new schools within a span of 13 years in Arlington, Virginia. Furthermore, having managed a workforce exceeding 6,000 employees he possesses experience in navigating union negotiations, implementing administrative and organizational changes, and improving management's evaluation and compensation process. Tim has initiated and led several successful national educational programs, demonstrating his commitment to driving positive change on a broader scale. He continues to speak extensively on educational issues related to finance, academics, governmental policies and fundraising.
Thomas Rinn
Student Advisor
Thomas Rinn is an undergraduate student at the University of Michigan, pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with a minor in Asian Studies. A National AP Scholar and member of the National Honor Society, Thomas graduated from Xavier High School in 2022. His Chinese heritage fuels his passion for Asian Studies, inspiring him to explore his cultural roots while connecting diverse communities. Outside the classroom, Thomas serves as a volunteer firefighter in NYC and as Director of the Michigan Cancer Challenge, roles that align with his commitment to community. Driven by his professional passion for Real Estate Finance, Thomas aims to blend his career pursuits with his dedication to fostering cultural, community-driven spaces.
