Media

HKU Appoints Dean of Arts and Dean of Law

20 May 2005

 

The Council of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) has approved the appointment of Professor Johannes M M Chan as the Dean of the Faculty of Law and Professor Kam Louie as the Dean of the Faculty of Arts.

Professor Johannes Chan is currently Dean of Law and Professor in the Department of Law at HKU. Under his visionary leadership, the Faculty has become a leading law school in the Asia-Pacific region and has built up strong connection with some of the most prestigious Mainland institutions.

Professor Chan has been appointed the first ever Honorary Senior Counsel in Hong Kong by the Chief Justice. This title is conferred on individuals who have provided distinguished legal service to Hong Kong. Professor Chan has also devoted himself to serve on many government/public and professional bodies, including the Council of the Hong Kong Bar Association, the Consumer Council, and the Broadcasting Authority etc. In 1995, he was elected as one of the Ten Young Outstanding Persons in Hong Kong.

Professor Chan's excellent academic and professional credentials and strong commitment to the developments of the Faculty will continue to lead it forward to reach new heights.

Professor Kam Louie is currently Professor of Chinese and Head of the China and Korea Centre, Faculty of Asian Studies, Australian National University. He is a Fellow of the Australian Humanities Academy and is currently the International Secretary of the Academy.

Professor Louie enjoys an international reputation in Chinese studies, and has published widely on various subjects such as the politics of contemporary Chinese philosophy and modern Chinese literature. His strong academic vision, commitment to excellence, and impressive achievements will ensure strong leadership to position the Faculty of Arts to become one of the leading centres of humanities in the region and internationally.

Professor Chan will start his new term of deanship on July 1, 2005 and Professor Louie will take up his new position at HKU on November 24, 2005.

About Faculty of Arts:
Since its founding in 1912, the Faculty has grown to become one of the largest faculties in HKU. It also awarded science degress before the Second World War, and ran a business studies programme, which include the study of law. A number of departments of the Faculties of Science, Education, and Social Sciences began life in the Faculty. For a long time, Arts has been the focal place of academic life in the University, and has continued to build on its traditions while taking up new education and intellectual challenges. Its graduates have established successful careers in both the public and private sectors, and have served the community with distinction.

About Faculty of Law:
The teaching of law first appeared in Hong Kong in the form of an LLB programme offered by the Department of Law established in 1969 at HKU which achieved full faculty status on July 1, 1984. Hong Kong retained its common law jurisdiction after 1997, and this now coexists with China's civil law system. The Faculty thus occupies a unique position at the interface between the two systems; it is China's "gateway" to the western legal world, and the western legal world's "window" into the Chinese legal system. The Faculty excels in three main areas: public law, commercial, corporate and financial law, comparative Chinese law, and in recent years has developed considerable strength in intellectual property and international trade law. HKU has been selected by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as its Asia-Pacific Training Centre, to offer regional trade policy courses to government officials throughout the region, drawing on expertise from the Faculty of Law and other faculties. Last year's programmes were highly commended by WTO.

**********


For media enquiries, please contact Miss Polo Leung of HKU's External Relations Office at 2859 2600.