On March 29, 2026, the opening ceremony of the 7th "Big Data Elite Class," hosted by the Department of Marketing at CUFE Business School, was successfully held in the Main Teaching Building of the Xueyuan South Road Campus.
Lan Yahui, Deputy Director of the Academic Affairs Office, Gu Leilei, Deputy Dean of CUFE Business School, and Professor Ling Ruobing from the Department of Marketing of CUFE Business School attended the ceremony. The ceremony was presided over by Sun Luping, Head of the Department of Marketing. All students of the new cohort of the Big Data Elite Class attended, officially embarking on a learning journey of data-empowered business.
Address by Deputy Director Lan Yahui of the Academic Affairs Office
In her address, Deputy Director Lan Yahui pointed out that the successful launch of the 7th "Big Data Elite Class" is an important practice for the university to deepen the development of the "New Liberal Arts" and promote deep interdisciplinary integration. The program focuses on the cross-innovation of data science and economic management, dedicating itself to cultivating high-caliber interdisciplinary talents who possess solid data literacy, cutting-edge technical capabilities, and outstanding business insights, and who can apply data-driven thinking to solve complex business problems. She mentioned that students will systematically study cutting-edge technologies, such as machine learning and the application and deployment of large models, in the Elite Class, continuously enhancing their data analysis and business decision-making capabilities through theoretical study and practical training. Finally, Deputy Director Lan Yahui expressed three earnest expectations for all students: first, to embrace the mission of the era and establish lofty ideals; second, to deeply cultivate cross-disciplinary integration to expand the boundaries of their capabilities; and third, to uphold the character of seeking truth and inherit the university's spirit.
Mobilization Speech by the Deputy Dean of CUFE Business School
Gu Leilei, Deputy Dean of CUFE Business School, delivered a mobilization speech. She noted that, facing the development trends of the artificial intelligence era, this cohort's Elite Class has comprehensively optimized and upgraded its curriculum system. By simplifying foundational code training and introducing AI-assisted teaching, the program effectively lowers the learning threshold and helps students enter the core phases of data analysis more efficiently. The program breaks down professional barriers to build a high-level learning platform that integrates multi-disciplinary backgrounds. She encouraged the students to directly face the initial learning challenges, maintain perseverance, keep up with the course pace, fully leverage their interdisciplinary advantages, and broaden their horizons while enhancing their comprehensive qualities through mutual exchange and learning.
Group Photo of All Teachers and Students at the Opening Ceremony
Finally, the opening ceremony concluded successfully with a group photo of all teachers and students. Following the ceremony, the students will embark on systematic and intensive coursework. With the strong support of the university and CUFE Business School, and under the careful guidance of the professors, it is believed that the students will surely hone their skills, increase their talents, and grow into new-era interdisciplinary elite talents equipped with both technical hard skills and business soft skills.
The Big Data Elite Class of CUFE Business School is hosted by the Department of Marketing. It consistently adheres to the educational philosophy of empowering business with technology and driving decisions with data, focusing on cultivating high-caliber interdisciplinary and innovative talents who possess both data-driven thinking and business insights. Since its establishment in 2016, the program has trained over 270 outstanding students from more than ten schools across the university. Since the Department of Marketing transitioned towards big data marketing in 2015, it has adhered to the organic integration and collaborative education of the primary classroom and the secondary classroom of the Big Data Elite Class, building a full-chain talent cultivation system that covers knowledge impartation, ability training, and practical innovation. Over the past eight years, the effectiveness of talent cultivation has been remarkable: more than a dozen outstanding students have successfully received recommended postgraduate admission to Peking University, Tsinghua University, Fudan University, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Dozens of graduates have secured admission offers for master's programs related to business analytics from world-class institutions such as Columbia University, Carnegie Mellon University, New York University, the University of Southern California, Imperial College London, the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The quality of talent cultivation and the effectiveness of the program have gained widespread recognition.
