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CORVALLIS, Ore. - William Kirby, a prominent modern Chinese historian, will speak at Oregon State University on April 7 as part of an inaugural event for the new Asian Studies Program on campus.

His talk, "The Chinese Century? Business and Education in the 21^st Century," will begin at 4 p.m. at the Austin Auditorium of the LaSells Stewart Center. The event is free and open to the public.

In his talk, Kirby will ask if the 21st century will be "the Chinese Century." Using a series of Harvard Business School Cases, this lecture will explore production, consumption, and education for China's new middle class, and think about China's future, in light of its past.

Kirby is the T.M. Chang Professor of China Studies at Harvard University and Spangler Family Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. He directs the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies and chairs the Harvard China Fund.

Kirby's work examines China's business, economic, and political development in an international context. He has written on the evolution of modern Chinese business (state-owned and private); Chinese corporate law and company structure; the history of freedom in China; the international socialist economy of the 1950s; relations across the Taiwan Strait; and China's relations with Europe and America.

His projects include case studies of contemporary Chinese businesses and a comparative study of higher education in China, Europe, and the United States.

Kirby holds degrees from Dartmouth College, Harvard University, and the Free University of Berlin. He is an honorary visiting professor at Peking University, Nanjing University, Chongqing University, and Fudan University, and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.