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The University of Hong Kong (HKU) will confer honorary degrees upon three outstanding individuals at the 207th Congregation on November 2, 2022 (Wednesday).

Honorary Degrees are awarded to individuals in recognition of their distinguished service and commitment to the University, the community, and to academia. They are also conferred to those who have made valuable intellectual, social and cultural contributions to society and the world.

The three honorary degree recipients are:

Doctor of Science honoris causa
YANG Chen Ning

Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa
Colin LAM Ko Yin
Brigitte LIN Ching Hsia

Biographies

YANG Chen Ning
Professor Chen-Ning Yang is a Nobel Laureate, a world-renowned theoretical physicist and an inspiration to generations of young scientists in China.

Professor Yang was born in Hefei, Anhui, China and holds a BSc from the National Southwestern Associated University (Lianda) (1942), an MSc from Tsinghua University (1944) and a PhD from the University of Chicago (1948). He joined the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey in 1949, becoming a permanent member of the Institute in 1952, and full professor in 1955. In 1963, Princeton University Press published his textbook, Elementary Particles: A Short History of Some Discoveries in Atomic Physics.

In 1966, he joined Stony Brook University as Albert Einstein Professor of Physics and the first director of the newly founded Institute for Theoretical Physics, known today as the CN Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics. He is currently Emeritus Professor of Stony Brook University, Distinguished Professor-at-large at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Professor at Tsinghua University.

Professor Yang won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1957, together with Professor Lee Tsung Dao, for the discovery of non-conservation of parity in weak interactions. He is also well known for his collaboration with Robert Mills in developing non-Abelian gauge theory, widely known as the Yang–Mills theory of 1954, which has become the foundation of the standard model of elementary particle interactions, and a research breakthrough that has reshaped the development of physics and modern geometry since the second half of the 20th century.

Professor Yang has received an array of international honours and awards including, inter alia, the Enrico Fermi Medal (1979), the Rumford Premium (1980), the Oppenheimer Memorial Plaque (1981), the US National Medal of Science (1986), the Benjamin Franklin Medal (1993), the Bower Award (1994), the Albert Einstein Medal (1995), the N Bogoliubov Prize (1996), the Lars Onsager Prize (1999), the Academicum Pontificium (2000), the King Faisal International Prize (2001) and the You Bring Charm to the World Award - Prize of Success for Life, China (2006). He has been conferred Honorary Degrees from over 24 universities worldwide.

In recognition of his contributions to academia and the world, the University has resolved to confer upon him the degree of Doctor of Science honoris causa.

Colin LAM Ko Yin
Dr Colin Lam Ko Yin is the Chairman of the Hong Kong Ferry (Holdings) Co Ltd, the Vice Chairman of Henderson Land Development Co Ltd, and a Director of the Hong Kong and China Gas Co Ltd, and of Miramar Hotel and Investment Co Ltd. Dr Lam has over 48 years’ experience in banking and property development in Hong Kong.

Dr Lam holds a BSc degree from the University of Hong Kong, was awarded an Honorary University Fellowship in 2008 and honoured as a Distinguished Alumni by the Faculty of Science in 2009.

At the University, he serves as Deputy Chairman of the HKU Foundation, on the Boards of Trustees for the Staff Provident Fund, Staff Terminal Benefits Scheme and Staff Retirement Scheme, and as a member of the Disbursement Committee and Investment Sub-committee.

Dr Lam also lends his expertise and counsel to many other universities, including, inter alia, as Honorary Court member of Hong Kong Baptist University, Court member of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and the City University of Hong Kong; as well as to renowned philanthropic organisations, such as the Chi Wah Foundation Ltd, the Lee Shau Kee Foundation Ltd, and the Pei Hua Education Foundation. 

Dr Lam was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2019, and was conferred a degree of Doctor of Business (honoris causa) by Macquarie University in 2015, and of Doctor of Business Administration (honoris causa) by HKUST in 2021.

Dr Lam founded the Chi Wah Foundation Ltd in 1992, with a mission to promote education and help those in need. The Learning Commons at HKU was named after the Foundation, which also provides support for a great number of universities and middle schools in Mainland China, and overseas to universities such as Macquarie University in Australia and the University of British Columbia in Canada.

Dr Lam was awarded the Silver Bauhinia Star in 2017. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport, and of the Hong Kong Institute of Directors, and a Director of the Union Hospital and of the Hong Kong Housing Settlers Corporation Ltd. 

In recognition of his contributions to academia and the world, the University has resolved to confer upon him the degree of Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa.

Brigitte LIN Ching Hsia
Ms Brigitte Lin Ching Hsia is a celebrated icon of Chinese language cinema, whose body of work has been acclaimed by critics and delighted generations of audiences throughout Greater China and the world.

After graduating from Taipei’s Ginling Girls’ High School in 1972, she joined the film industry, where she immediately rose to stardom with her screen debut Outside the Window (1973), marking the start of her prolific and illustrious filmmaking career.

Ms Lin appeared in 100 films in a career that developed over two decades in three stages: from romantic dramas, epitomised by adaptations of Chiung Yao’s novels; through to comedies, with notable huge hits produced by director Kevin Chu; and finally to martial arts films, represented by Swordsman II (1992), a cinema classic directed by  Tsui Hark, in which Ms Lin for the second time played a male character, after starring as Jia Baoyu in Li Han-hsiang’s rendition of The Dream of the Red Chamber (1977). Her impressive portrayal made her the synonym for the androgynous character Dongfang Bubai in Chinese-language cinema history. Her hundredth film was Ashes of Time (1994) directed by the iconic auteur Wong Kar-wai.

Ms Lin received multiple accolades over the years. She was named Best Actress at the 22nd Asia-Pacific Film Festival for her performance in Eight Hundred Heroes (1976), and again at the 27th Golden Horse Awards with Red Dust (1990). In 2018, she was awarded the Golden Mulberry Lifetime Achievement Award at the 20th Far East Film Festival, and an Honorary Fellowship by the SH Ho College of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Ms Lin is also an accomplished author and has published four collections of prose: Inside and Outside the Window (2011); Cloud Goes, Cloud Comes (2014); In Front of and Behind the Mirror (2020) and Ching-hsia Sketches (2022). Her third book In Front of and Behind the Mirror was selected for the Recommended Prize in the essay category at the 16th Hong Kong Biennial Awards for Chinese Literature in 2022.

In recognition of her contributions to arts and culture, the University has resolved to confer upon her the degree of Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa.

Dr the Honourable Sir David Li, Pro-Chancellor of HKU, will officiate at the Ceremony. Dr Colin Lam Ko Yin will deliver the acceptance speech on behalf of the honorary graduands. Professor Yang Chen Ning will be conferred in absentia.

Details of the Ceremony as follows:
Date: November 2, 2022 (Wednesday)
Time: 5:30pm
Venue: Loke Yew Hall, Main Building, HKU

Note: Photographers are reminded to bring their long lenses and not to use flashlight inside the Hall.

For more details, Please visit the 207th Congregation website at: https://www4.hku.hk/hongrads/.

For media enquiries, please contact:
Communications and Public Affairs Office
Ms Melanie Wan (Tel: 2859 2600 / Email: melwkwan@hku.hk)
Ms Jaymee Ng (Tel: 3910 3612 / Email: ngjaymee@hku.hk)
Mr Kenneth Choi (Tel: 2859 2607 / Email: khkchoi@hku.hk)