Media

Below is an email by HKU President Professor Xiang Zhang to University members on the appointments of two Vice-Presidents.

The University of Hong Kong is committed to attracting outstanding academic talents from around the world. Facing fierce competition from the world's top universities, we recruit talented individuals based on their own merit, irrespective of race, nationality, gender, place of origin, political orientation or religious belief.

You may be aware that the University Council has just resolved to appoint two Vice-Presidents, Professor Max Shen of UC Berkeley as VP Research and Professor Peng Gong of Tsinghua University as VP Academic Development. They are both world class scholars and institutional leaders. During the last few days, unfortunately, a leakage of information of the selection process has given rise to a series of controversies (and speculations) in the local media. The leakage-caused rumors and anxiety not only caused confusion in Hong Kong society, but also caused pain to the candidates and their families. 

I am sure you would agree that we have a moral and legal duty to keep the candidates’ information confidential during the selection process. The leakage of personal information of a candidate would inevitably not only injure the reputation of our University, but also affect our future recruitment of talents to Hong Kong. 

In light of the recent news reports and related controversies, I am obliged to give you the relevant information so you could have a better understanding of the facts related to the key issues (my apologies for not being able to explain to you earlier as I am bound by the same confidentiality code before the Council’s decision).

There are some news reports on the background of Professor Max Shen. Professor Shen has written to the Council and issued a public statement in response to the news reports and related rumors. I have attached to this email his statement and also the response from his current employer UC Berkeley to the inquires of the Hong Kong media. 

There are other news reports citing an online anonymous accusation against Professor Peng Gong. Professor Gong has issued a statement to the respective media which is attached here for your reference. I have also attached messages from two prominent professors who are familiar with the incident as testimonies. 

Regarding the selection process, the University has stringent rules to prevent conflict of interest. Although Professor Shen, Professor Gong and I have all taught at Berkeley, our academic disciplines are different, and save for bumping into one another a few times on campus, we have not had any other contact, whether in a personal or work capacity. As Chairman of the Search Committee, I have taken all necessary steps to avoid all potential conflicts. I am grateful to other committee members for giving me the great support.

As Interim Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, it is Professor Richard Wong’s role and duty to be involved in the selection of senior management team members. I wish to point out that this is not the first time that Professor Wong had taken up the Provost post. He was selected for the Provost post by the Search Committee in 2004 and served for six years.

As you may know, our search committees include many colleagues with international academic standing, as well as Council member and student representative. I would like to thank all of them here for their contributions and support in the long selection process.

As the leader of the University, I keep reminding myself that I am accountable to both the members of the HKU family as well as Hong Kong at large. I am willing to listen to different views and comments. But I also hope all of our discussions could be based on facts, not just speculations. Let’s work together to bring HKU to a higher level.

Professor Xiang Zhang
HKU President and Vice-Chancellor