DAPHNE, Ala. — Dr. Guohua Yan, vice president of the Federation of University Sports of China, toured the United States Sports Academy with the leaders of 12 Chinese universities. They met on campus with Academy President Thomas P. Rosandich and University of South Alabama President Gordon Moulton, exploring America’s approach to managing university athletics.

The leader of the Federation of University Sports of China has been traveling in the U.S. with the presidents of Beijing Foreign Study University, Guangdong University of Technology, Harbin Normal University, Harbin Physical Education Institute, Jilin University, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Wuhan University of Technology and others.

Rosandich will travel to China in June to sign agreements to work with the Chinese Sports Federation.

The academy hosted an educational seminar and reception for the delegation with a special showing of its art exhibit “The Road to the Beijing Olympics 2008 Through Art.”

Earlier, the delegation stopped in Washington, D.C., where the academy arranged a meeting with University of Maryland President Dan Mote and Athletic Director Debbie Yow. The academy has arranged for the Chinese delegation to visit the University of Southern California and Tiger Woods Learning Center.

“The Road to the Beijing Olympics 2008 Through Art” combines sport-themed works by the Chinese master calligrapher Gu Gan (who is the Academy’s Sport Artist of the Year 2008 in Graphics) and Olympics-inspired pictographs by American environmental artist Wyland (a U.S. Olympic Committee official artist for the Beijing Games) with a striking series in which the terra-cotta army (bing mah yong) from the tomb of China’s first emperor are painted as modern Olympians, the work of Australian Charles Billich, Sport Artist of the Year 2000.

In its 35-year history the academy has delivered academic programs in more than 60 countries.

The academy is an independent, non-profit, accredited, special-mission sports university created to serve the nation and the world with programs in instruction, research and service.

For more information about the United States Sports Academy, call 626-3303 or visit www.ussa.edu.