History of the United Board

The United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia was founded in 1922. By 1949, the United Board was working with several Christian colleges and universities in China, including: Fukien, Ginling, Hangchow, Huachung, Hwa Nan, Nanking, St. John's, Shanghai, Shantung, Soochow, West China and Yenching.

Unable to continue working in China after 1951, the United Board began working in other parts of Asia at the request of Christian colleges and universities in Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand. The United Board was invited to return to China in 1980, and today, the China program, which now includes Hong Kong, is the largest. In recent years, new programs have been undertaken at colleges and universities in Cambodia, East Timor, Myanmar, and Vietnam.

The United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia is a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization, chartered as an educational agency by the Regents of the University of the State of New York, to assist higher education in Asian countries.

More information on the history of the United Board is available in these scanned volumes: Ever New Horizons: The Story of the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia, 1922-1975, by William P. Fenn (© 1980, United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia) and Sailing on Winds of Change: Two Decades in the Life of the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia, 1969-1990, by Paul T. Lauby (© 1996, United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia).

The archives of the United Board are maintained by the Yale Divinity School Library. The Yale Divinity School Library also maintains a United Board image collection.