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In conferring the honorary degree upon Professor Tsui, U of T president Professor David Naylor said, "There are multiple reasons to honour Lap-Chee, he is a breakthrough scientist, a real builder of discipline, an excellent leader, and we need to recognize that." 

Prior to his present appointment as the Vice-Chancellor of HKU, Professor Tsui was the holder of the H.E. Sellers Chair in Cystic Fibrosis and University Professor at U of T.  He was also the Geneticist-in-Chief and Head of the Genetics and Genomic Biology Program of the Research Institute, at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.  His long-standing ties with Toronto dated back to 1981 when he pursued his postdoctoral study in medical genetics in the Hospital for Sick Children.  He then became Assistant Professor at Department of Medical Genetics and Medical Biophysics in U of T in 1983, was Professor in its Institute of Medical Science in 1994 and Professor in its Department of Molecular & Medical Genetics in 2002.

"This honour is truly very special to me. Toronto and the Hospital for Sick Children were really where I established my academic life," Professor Tsui said at the conferment ceremony, "I am grateful to my postdoctoral fellows, Sick Kids, the H.E. Sellers Foundation and the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation for their unfailing support of our work in identifying the cystic Fibrosis gene.  This is why I often credit my success as being at the right time, at the right place and with the right people."

"In 2002, I received an offer to become HKU's Vice-Chancellor, it was a difficult decision for me.  The offer could allow me to work for the first and foremost university of the region and to contribute to the higher education sector as a whole.  To compromise, I promised that I would act as a bridge between the two great Universities and between the two great cities." he continued.

The University of Toronto honour is the latest addition to the numerous awards and honours Professor Tsui has received for his outstanding work over the years.  His honours include the titles of Distinguished Scientist of the Medical Research Council of Canada, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Fellow of the Royal Society of London amongst various others.  In addition, he was awarded honorary doctoral degrees by the University of King's College, University of New Brunswick, Chinese University of Hong Kong, St. Francis Xavier University, York University and Tel Aviv University.