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HKU to Confer Honorary Degrees upon Six Outstanding Individuals at the 188th Congregation

19 Feb 2013

 

The Pro-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) Dr the Honourable David Li Kwok Po will confer honorary degrees upon six outstanding individuals at the 188th Congregation on March 14, 2013 (Thursday).

The honorary degree recipients to be conferred at the Congregation are:

Doctor of Laws honoris causa
Patrick YU Shuk Siu

Doctor of Science honoris causa
Alec John JEFFREYS
MAI Yiu Wing

Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa
FAN Jinshi
WANG Shenghong
Rocco YIM Sen Kee

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.

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Biographies:

Patrick YU Shuk Siu
Mr Patrick Yu Shuk Siu is a celebrated Hong Kong trial and appellate lawyer.

He was born in Hong Kong and attended Wah Yan College Hong Kong. In 1938, at age sixteen, he was admitted to the University of Hong Kong on a Government Scholarship. In 1941, Mr Yu served with the British Naval Intelligence and was commissioned as an officer in the Intelligence Corps of the Army of the Republic of China. Mr Yu began his studies at Merton College, Oxford in 1945 on a Hong Kong Government Victory Scholarship, and passed the bar exam of England and Wales in 1949.

In 1951, he became the first Chinese person to be appointed Crown Counsel in Hong Kong. Mr Yu started his own practice in 1953, and by the mid-1960s had established himself as the top criminal lawyer in the territory. It was also during this time that he helped to establish the HKU Faculty of Law, Hong Kong’s first law school.

In the 1970s, Yu was offered a judgeship on the Supreme Court of Hong Kong, an invitation he declined. Two similar offers were subsequently made and declined on the grounds of the discriminatory employment terms. Yu was also known and respected for his refusal to apply to become Queen's Counsel.

Mr Yu retired in 1983 and became a Life Member of the Hong Kong Bar Association in 1994.

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

Alec John JEFFREYS
Professor Sir Alec John Jeffreys is a distinguished geneticist and internationally respected pioneer in DNA fingerprinting.

He studied biochemistry and genetics at Merton College, Oxford. Following an European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Amsterdam where, with Dr Richard Flavell, he was one of the first to discover split genes. He moved in 1977 to the Department of Genetics at the University of Leicester, where he held the positions of Professor of Genetics and Royal Society Wolfson Research Professor until his retirement in 2012.

Sir Alec’s research at Leicester focussed on exploring human DNA variation and the mutation processes that create this diversity. He was one of the first to discover inherited variation in human DNA, then went on to invent DNA fingerprinting, showing how it could be used to resolve issues of identity and kinship. This discovery revolutionised forensic and legal medicine, and has impacted the lives of millions of people worldwide. His more recent work concentrated on developing new approaches to analysing variation and mutation in human chromosomes.

Sir Alec’s work has received widespread recognition, including his election to the Royal Society in 1986 and a Knighthood for services to genetics in 1994. Other awards include the Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine (2004), the Lasker Award (2005) and the Heineken Prize (2006). He was also one of the four finalists for the Millennium Technology Prize in 2008.

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

MAI Yiu Wing
Professor Mai Yiu Wing is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and University Chair at the University of Sydney, and an internationally recognised pioneer in fracture mechanics and materials science.

Professor Mai received from HKU his BSc (Eng) degree and the Williamson Prize in 1969 and his PhD in 1972. After several years of postdoctoral research at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and Imperial College in London, he began an academic career at the University of Sydney in 1976, was promoted to a Personal Chair in 1987 and appointed a University Chair in 2004. He was an inaugural Australian Federation Fellow from 2002 to 2007. Professor Mai has maintained close ties to Hong Kong and its institutes of higher learning in the past two decades.

Professor Mai has done seminal work on fracture mechanics, the characterisation of advanced materials, and the fundamental understanding of composite interfaces and crack-wake bridging, which has revolutionised the microstructure design of tough fiber composites and ceramics. His research has had a significant, lasting impact in these areas and has contributed to the development of asbestos-free cements, testing protocols and improved manufacturing processes with global impact.

Professor Mai was elected to the Fellowships of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering in 1992, the Australian Academy of Science in 2001, the Royal Society in 2008, and the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2011. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2010.

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

FAN Jinshi
Professor Fan Jinshi is the Director of the Dunhuang Academy in Gansu Province.

After graduating from Peking University where she studied archaeology in 1963, she joined the Research Institute on Cultural Relics of Dunhuang (later renamed the Dunhuang Academy). She was appointed Deputy Director of the then Institute in 1977, Deputy Director of the Dunhuang Academy in 1984, Executive Deputy Director of the Academy in 1993 and Director of the Academy in April 1998.

Professor Fan has dedicated herself to the archaeological study, conservation and management of the Dunhuang Grottoes for over five decades. She has strengthened international cooperation to ensure the preservation of Dunhuang heritage and is now working on a "Digital Dunhuang" project – expanding accessibility to research materials and safeguarding them for future generations.

Professor Fan has participated in over a dozen related projects, including the protection and use of the Dunhuang Grottoes, the construction of the Mogao Visitor Centre and a long-term, overall conservation plan for the Dunhuang Grottoes. She has also compiled and edited The Complete Collection of Dunhuang Grottoes (26 volumes), and published over a dozen publications and papers on her studies of the Dunhuang Grottoes.

Professor Fan has served as a Member of the 8th to 11th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference since 1993. She was named one of the “Most Outstanding Professionals of the Nation" jointly by the Organization Department, Propaganda Department, Ministry of Personnel and Ministry of Science and Technology in 2002.

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

WANG Shenghong
Professor Wang Shenghong is Emeritus President and a Board Member of Fudan University, and Chair of the Fudan University International Cooperation Committee.

Professor Wang graduated from the Shanghai University of Science and Technology in 1965 and became a faculty member. He continued his research at Purdue University and the University of Arizona in the US from 1981 to 1983.

He has long been engaged in structural design, computational mechanics and numerical optimisation software development for large-scale electronic equipment, including radio telescopes, satellite earth station and precision tracking radars. He has been awarded the First Prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award, the National Education and Research Award, and the Shanghai Science and Technology Progress Award.

In 1984, Professor Wang was appointed Executive Vice-President of the Shanghai University of Science and Technology and later appointed President of Shanghai University. He was appointed Director of the Education and Health Office and Director of the Higher Education Bureau of the Shanghai Municipality in 1986. In 1995, Professor Wang was appointed Vice Chair of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Shanghai Branch. In 1998, he became the 18th President of Fudan University, reforming many of its academic and research systems, and strengthening international exchanges and collaboration.

Professor Wang was a Member of Hong Kong’s University Grants Committee and has received the President’s Medal from George Washington University in the US, and the Lien d’Or from the Ecole de Management of Lyon (EM LYON), France.

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

Rocco YIM Sen Kee
Mr Rocco Yim Sen Kee is an award-winning internationally renowned architect.

He was born and educated in Hong Kong. After graduating from the University of Hong Kong he joined the firm of Spence Robinson for two years before starting his own practice in 1979, which eventually evolved into a partnership with Messrs Patrick P W Lee and Bernard M B Hui in 1982. 

Since winning a First Prize Award for the L’Opéra de la Bastille international competition in 1983, his works have consistently been awarded both in Hong Kong and overseas.  Recent accolades include ARCASIA Gold Medals in 1994 and 2003, Chicago Athenaeum Architectural Awards in 2006 and 2011, the Kenneth F Brown Award in 2007 and he was a category winner in the 2010 World Architecture Festival category.

Mr Yim is a regular invited speaker in local and international symposia.  His works have been published in various regional and global journals, and have been exhibited four times in the Venice Biennale over the last decade.

He is currently on the Advisory Council for the HKU Department of Architecture, an Adjunct Professor in HKU SPACE, a Museum Adviser to the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and a Member of the International Artist Fellowships Council of International Advisors for the University of Southern California. His work was published in The City in Architecture in 2003, Being Chinese in Architecture in 2004 and Presence in 2012. A new monograph Reconnecting Cultures will be published in early 2013.

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

Details of the 188th Congregation
Date: March 14, 2013 (Thursday)
Time: 5:30pm
Venue: Loke Yew Hall, HKU

For photos of the honorary degree recipients and more details about the congregation, please visit: http://www4.hku.hk/hongrads/index.php

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.