Vincent Mo was at NYMA last weekend to hire a superintendent and greet the alumni. Dr. Mo is the chairman of the Board of SouFun Holdings Ltd., the company that bought the academy in October.
“I’d like to bring the school back to glory again,” he said during a brief interview. “I think it will be good for the community to have us here.”
This weekend he will greet the alumni and tell them that he plans to make a personal donation of $1 million to the school.
Besides that contribution, he expects the academy to spend about $400,000 a month on improvements. There are repairs to be made, and Dr. Mo plans to introduce a technology lab where students can learn robotics. “I hope when we’re fully funded,” he said, “we can achieve what we want to achieve.”
Dr. Mo has accomplished a lot in other areas. He founded SouFun Holdings Ltd., which is the largest provider of real estate information in China. He has a doctorate from Indian University. But he introduces himself as “Vince” and most of his employees call him that. His business card is printed in English on one side, and Chinese on the other.
Referring to last fall, Dr. Mo admitted that he wasn’t looking to acquire a prep school. But when he heard about NYMA, he was attracted by its history and its deep roots in academics. He hopes to establish it as an international school, with about half its students coming from overseas.
The first activities that people will notice are the summer leadership programs. They will last from 10 days to three weeks, and include military training, academics and site visits. Dr. Mo expects them to attract about 100 students.
During his weekend visit, he was pleasantly optimistic. “I think the school’s former troubles can be overcome,” he said. “I believe things will eventually change.”
