Thanks to Raymond for alerting us about Yao being awarded yesterday the University of Houston’s President Medal for his contribution in bridging and promoting friendship between the U.S. and China.

It was the 10th year anniversary of the Asian Amercian Studies Center at the University of Houston. Some 450 people attended the event, including the Chinese consulate in Houston, Mr. Hua Jinzhou, and the Chancellor of the University of Houston. Yao Ming was the Chief Guest of Honor, and sat at the center position of the head table between the Chinese consulate and the Chancellor.

In his thank you speech, Yao Ming expressed that he will continue to use his best efforts to make more contributions to Sino-American culture and sports, and said: “I wish I can be a good textbook not only limited to the basketball sports.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 27th, 2006 at 1:14 pm and is filed under Rockets' off-season. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.