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HKU Chemistry Professor Vivian Yam elected Foreign Member of Academia Europaea

21 Oct 2015

Professor Vivian Yam Wing-wah, Philip Wong Wilson Wong Professor in Chemistry and Energy and Chair Professor in the Department of Chemistry, was elected as the Foreign Member of Academia Europaea (The Academy of Europe) during the meeting held in Darmstadt, Germany in early September 2015.

The Academia Europaea was founded in 1988 as an international, non-governmental association of individual scientists and scholars from all disciplines, who are experts and leaders of international distinction in their own subject areas as recognized by their peers, irrespective of nationality, gender, location or discipline. The primary criterion for membership is “sustained academic excellence in the candidate’s field”. Membership of Academia Europaea is by invitation after peer group nomination, rigorous review and assessment based on the scholarship and eminence of the individual in his/her chosen field, and recommendation to the Council of the Academia for formal election. The Academia’s current membership is about 3000. There are over 70 Foreign Members. Professor Yam is the only Foreign Member elected in 2015 under the Chemical Sciences Section of the Academy for her distinguished achievements in the discipline.

Professor Yam has been delighted to be elected as a Foreign Member. “It is my great honour to become the Foreign Member of this distinguished Academy and I am looking forward to meeting other well-known chemists and scientists within Europe and all over the world.” she said.

HKU President Professor Peter Mathieson congratulated Professor Yam on her being elected a Foreign Member of Academia Europaea.

Professor Mathieson said: “I and all of Vivian’s colleagues here at HKU are of course delighted to see her receive yet another international accolade in recognition of her distinguished achievements in the field. That the only Foreign Member in Chemical Sciences of the Academy should be from HKU is further evidence of the University’s impact and research standing in the world.”

Professor Yam will be inducted into the Academy at the Introduction Ceremony to be held in June 2016 in Cardiff, United Kingdom, along with 247 new members.

Academia Europaea Member webpage:
http://www.ae-info.org/ae/User/Yam_Vivian_Wing-Wah

Biography of Professor Vivian Yam Wing-wah

Professor Vivian Yam Wing-wah is currently the Philip Wong Wilson Wong Professor in Chemistry and Energy and Chair Professor at HKU. She was elected to Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2001 at the age of 38 as the youngest member of the Academy, Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences in 2012, and Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences for the Advancement of Science in Developing Countries (TWAS) in 2006. She was the Laureate of the 2011 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award and recipient of the 2005/06 Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Centenary Medal, 2015 RSC Ludwig Mond Award, 2005 State Natural Science Award, 2006 Japanese Photochemistry Association Eikohsha Award, 2014 Chinese Chemical Society-China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) Chemistry Contribution Prize, Docteur Honoris Causa (Université de Rennes 1, 2013), 2013 Seaborg Lectureship (UC Berkeley), 2015/16 Julia S. and Edward C. Lee Memorial Lectureship (Lee Lectureship) (University of Chicago), 2011 Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress, 2007 Hong Kong Fulbright Distinguished Scholar, 2000-01 Croucher Foundation Senior Research Fellowship, 2002 Ten Outstanding Young Persons of Hong Kong, 2008 Hong Kong Outstanding Women Professionals and Entrepreneurs Award and 2015 Bronze Bauhinia Star from the Hong Kong SAR Government. Her research interests include inorganic and organometallic chemistry, supramolecular chemistry, and metal-based molecular functional materials for sensing, organic optoelectronics and energy research.

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