Media

HKU to Confer Honorary Degrees upon Three Outstanding Individuals
at the 187th Congregation

05 Nov 2012

 

The Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) Dr the Honourable Leung Chun-ying will confer honorary degrees upon three outstanding individuals at the 187th Congregation on November 27, 2012 (Tuesday).

The three honorary degree recipients to be conferred at the Congregation are the Hon Mr Justice Syed Kemal Shah Bokhary, Dr Henry Cheng Kar-shun and Mr Yao Ming. The Degrees on Class of 2012 of HKU’s ten Faculties will also be conferred at the Congregation.

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 honorary degree recipients:

Doctor of Laws honoris causa
The Hon Mr Justice Syed Kemal Shah Bokhary

Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa
Dr Henry Cheng Kar-shun
Mr Yao Ming

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Biographies:

The Hon Mr Justice Syed Kemal Shah Bokhary
Mr Justice Syed Kemal Shah Bokhary is a Non-Permanent Judge of Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal and an Honorary Professor in the Faculty of Law of the University of Hong Kong. 

Mr Justice Bokhary was born in Hong Kong in 1947. He was called to the English Bar in 1970 by the Middle Temple (of which he was made an Honorary Bencher in 2001), was admitted to the Hong Kong Bar in 1971 and appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1983. From 1971 to 1989 he practised in Hong Kong and before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, principally in commercial law and public law. He was appointed to the High Court in 1989, then to the Court of Appeal in 1993 and ultimately to the Court of Final Appeal in 1997.

During the 15 years Mr Justice Bokhary served as a Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal, he participated in almost every constitutional case which came before the Court and is widely respected for the deep sense of commitment and responsibility he brought to his role. 

In recognition of his contributions to the legal sector and Hong Kong, the University has resolved to confer upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws honoris causa.

Dr Henry Cheng Kar-shun
Dr Henry Cheng Kar-shun is Chairman and Executive Director of New World Development Company Limited and Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Limited. Dr Cheng is also a standing committee member of the eleventh Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. He holds an MBA, a DBA from Johnson and Wales University, and an LLD from the University of Western Ontario (Western).

Dr Cheng has been a long-time advocate of higher education in Hong Kong and the Mainland. He has established the New World/Harvard Kennedy School of Government Fellows Programme and the New World Mathematics Awards, and co-established the Cheng Yu Tung Management Institute with Western’s Richard Ivey School of Business. He is Honorary Chairman of the Advisory Council of the Wu Zhi Qiao (Bridge to China) Charitable Foundation and Director of the Chow Tai Fook Charity Foundation. He is also Director of the Cheng Yu Tung Foundation, which has supported research, academic and campus development at the University of Hong Kong.

Dr Cheng was awarded the Gold Bauhinia Star in 2001 and the Legion of Honour by the French Government in 2005.

In recognition of his contributions to Hong Kong and higher education, the University has resolved to confer upon him the degree of Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa.

Mr Yao Ming
Mr Yao Ming is a world-famous basketball superstar, Chairman of the Shanghai Sharks Basketball Club, founder of the Yao Foundation, a Board Member and Global Ambassador for the Special Olympics movement worldwide, and a member of the Standing Committee of Shanghai Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Mr Yao is a native of Shanghai and joined the national basketball team of China in 1998. He played for China at three Olympic Games, two International Basketball Federation (FIBA) World Championships, one Asian Games and three FIBA Asia Championships, leading the Chinese national team into the quarterfinals at the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Olympics. He was the first non-American athlete to become a number-one draft pick in the National Basketball League (NBA) in 2002, a star player of the Houston Rockets and made the NBA's All-Star team seven times.

Mr Yao has made outstanding contributions in HIV/AIDS advocacy and has helped fight the social and cultural stigma associated with HIV/AIDS with his participation in the prevention and treatment of the disease. In 2008, Mr Yao was presented with the Award for Outstanding Contributions to the AIDS Response by UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.

In recognition of his contributions to sport and HIV/AIDS advocacy, HKU will confer upon him the degree of Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa.

Details of the 187th Congregation
Date: November 27, 2012 (Tuesday)
Time: 2:30pm to 4:30pm
Venue: Hall One, AsiaWorld-Expo, Lantau, Hong Kong

For media enquiries, please contact: Ms Trinni Choy (Assistant Director (Media), Communications and Public Affairs Office) tel: 2859 2606 / email: pychoy@hku.hk or Ms Melanie Wan (Manager (Media), Communications and Public Affairs Office) tel: 2859 2600 / email: melwkwan@hku.hk.