Kennedy Y H Wong
Dr Kennedy Y H Wong, BBS, LLD, DCL, JP
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (2013)
Dr Kennedy Wong graduated from the University of Kent with a bachelor’s degree in Law in 1984. He was admitted as solicitor of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong in 1988 and became Managing Partner of Philip K H Wong, Kennedy Y H Wong & Co. in 1990. In 1992, the company became the first firm in Hong Kong to be approved by the PRC Ministry of Justice to establish an office in Shanghai. The firm today has offices and business associations in dozens of cities around the world.
Apart from managing his expanding law firm, Dr Wong also embarked on different investment projects on the mainland since the 1980s. In 2007/2008, Dr Wong timely grasped the opportunity to acquire and re-structure two listed companies and gave new leases of life to the companies.
Dr Wong is dedicated to advancing the development of Hong Kong and mainland societies. He has been enthusiastically promoting whole person development, in particular patriotic education, among the youths of Hong Kong since the last decade. During his service as Chairman of the Hong Kong United Youth Association and as Vice-Chairman of the All-China Youth Federation, Dr Wong has instigated and convened numerous events to enhance the young people’s understanding of their motherland and awareness of national issues. His co-founding of the Hong Kong-Taiwan Exchange Foundation represented a higher aim of his in strengthening exchanges and communications among young people across the straits and hence closer cooperation among Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and the mainland. In 2003, Dr Wong was appointed to the national committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
In the spirit of “giving back to the society”, Dr Wong has also rendered strong and steadfast support to local and overseas education. Over the years, he has made magnanimous contributions to various education institutions as well as local and overseas universities for setting up scholarship funds and enhancing teaching and learning facilities. He is also engaged in charity projects on the mainland, in particularly at remote and impoverished mountainous regions. For his outstanding achievements in the legal and business fields, as well as his tremendous contributions to the community and devotion to public services, he was named one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons of Hong Kong in 1998 and one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World in 2003. In 2007, the University of Kent, his alma mater, conferred upon him the Honorary Doctor of Civil Laws.
The University has shared deep associations and friendship with Dr Wong for many years. In as early as 2002 Dr Wong was appointed a member of the Council. He subsequently served as Deputy Chairman of the Council’s Personnel Committee and Chairman of the Student Residence Management Board and the Dr Ng Tor Tai (NTT) International House Management Board. To this date, Dr Wong has served on the Council for three terms totalling nine years. Starting from 2011, Dr Wong has been serving as Chairman of the Audit Committee of the Council. In December 2010, Dr Wong made a donation of HK$10 million to the University for establishing the “Dr. Kennedy Y H Wong Endowed Chair of Chinese Medicine” in support of the School of Chinese Medicine’s endeavours in cutting-edge research and development of Chinese medicine. In September 2012, Dr Wong donated HK$1 million designated for “Active Pulse Analyzer for Traditional Chinese Medicine Applications”. In 2012, he further pledged to donate HK$10 million to the University for the establishment of the Distinguished Visiting Professorship Scheme.
Visionary, Dr Wong has made outstanding achievements as a legal professional and an entrepreneur. He is dedicated to social and education services, and has rendered strong and steadfast support for the development of the University.