HERSHEY -- University officials traded coffee and danishes for tea last month on a visit to several major East Asian universities and corporations in an effort to raise money for the University's research programs.

The officials traveled to Japan, Korea and Taiwan from Jan. 27 to Feb. 10 to "draw on ties with alumni in those countries," said William C. Richardson, the University's executive vice president and provost, who went on the trip.

Although the travelers received a warm reception from their Asian hosts, he said, the fund-raising success of the trip "remains to be seen."

Richardson, asked by University President Bryce Jordan to investigate potential financial aid from East Asian countries for research purposes, addressed members of the Board of Trustees Friday at the University's Hershey Medical Center.

Officials are starting early in their fund-raising efforts for the University's plans to build a research park in Central Pennsylvania that will eventually cover about 300 acres.

The University hopes to attract corporate giants from across the globe which would appreciate the park's physical proximity to a leading U.S. research university, Richardson said in a prepared statement.

"It became very clear to me how important faculty ties are around the world," said H. Jesse Arnelle, senior member of the board and chairman of the educational policy committee.

Arnelle, a San Francisco attorney, accompanied Richardson to Japan.

"In the Asian culture, they are much more aware and show a greater deference to education," Arnelle said. "Education is the highest form of human development."

Other trustees seemed satisfied with the results reported by Richardson at the meeting and agreed with Arnelle's assessment of Asian education.

"I think they beat us on basic education and we beat them on higher education," said Trustee Roger A. Madigan.

Other countries demand more strenuous workloads and greater amounts of time devoted to classwork from students in primary schooling than the United States requires, he said.

However, Richardson said, a dearth of higher education institutions in many Asian nations causes an overwhelming number of well-qualified students to lose access to such opportunities.

Arnelle said Japanese officials with whom they visited expressed "adulations, if not reverence, of Penn State students."

The traveling officials attended many Penn State alumni club events in the three countries, Richardson added.

Other officials who traveled with Richardson and Arnelle on different legs of the journey included Inyong Ham, professor of industrial engineering; LaMarr Kopp, deputy vice president of international programs; and Parris Chang, professor of political science and director of the University's Center for East Asian Studies.

Some corporations and universities the officials visited included Sony Corporation, Toshiba Corporation, Seiko Instruments, Inc. and the University of Tokyo.