Campus Digest
HKBU to honour five distinguished persons at 54th Commencement
22 Oct 2013
Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) will confer honorary doctoral degrees on five distinguished persons at its 54th Commencement on 25 November for their outstanding academic, research or professional achievements as well as their remarkable contributions to society.
Professor Chen Kaixian, MCAS (陳凱先), a world-class leader in drug discovery, will be awarded the degree of Doctor of Science honoris causa. Professor Wai Chee Dimock (宋惠慈), a literary explorer across boundaries, will be awarded the degree of Doctor of Letters, honoris causa. Dr. Kennedy Wong (黃英豪), a philanthropic solicitor and entrepreneur, will be awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa. Mr. Wilfred Wong (王英偉), a business and political leader dedicated to serving the community, will be awarded the degree of Doctor of Humanities honoris causa. Professor Wu Jianmin (吳建民), a veteran diplomatwho creates opportunities and builds bridges, will be awarded the degree of Doctor of Humanities honoris causa.
Professor Chen Kaixian, MCAS (Doctor of Science, honoris causa)
Professor Chen Kaixian is one of China’s leading scientists in medicinal chemistry research and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He is widely recognised for his remarkable achievements in computer-aided drug design and in pioneering innovative drug discovery research. Professor Chen has contributed in significant ways to the development of Chinese medicine as a whole, to scientific research as well as education in Chinese medicine and materia medica.
Professor Chen has committed himself to research in the areas of organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry and drug design for many years. He has promoted the interdisciplinary cooperative and integrative rsesearch with medicinal chemistry, life sciences, computer and information sciences, contributing to innovative research of new drugs in China. Professor Chen has been appointed by the Ministry of Science and Technology as Principal Scientist of two projects, “Innovative Drug and Modernization of Chinese Medicines” and the National Science and Technology Major Project “Innovative Drug Research and Development”, under the National Basic Research Programme, also known as 973 Programme.
Professor Chen was the Director of the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica. He assumed the presidency of the Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (SHUTCM) in 2005. Under his able leadership, SHUTCM was twice ranked first in the training of Chinese materia medica and second in Chinese medicine in China.
Professor Chen has published more than 200 papers in important journals in China and overseas. He also serves on the editorial boards of a number of renowned journals. Professor Chen holds a number of significant titles in academic circles, such as President of Chinese Association of the Integration of Traditional and Western Medicine, Deputy Director of the Evaluation Committee of The National Fund for Distinguished Young Scientist, Convener of the Subject Appraisal Group (Pharmaceutical Science) of the Academic Degree Commission of the State Council, Executive Member of the Chinese Pharmacopeia Commission, and Deputy Panel Leader of the specialist panel on the research project on fundamental theories of Chinese medicine under the “973 Programme”. He concurrently serves as adjunct professor of various renowned universities in the country.
Professor Chen has always been a close friend and staunch supporter of the School of Chinese Medicine (SCM) of HKBU. He is Honorary Professor of SCM and has served as Chairman of the Panel of Adjudicators of the Cheung On Tak International Award for Outstanding Contribution to Chinese Medicine and as a conference speaker.
Professor Wai Chee Dimock (Doctor of Letters, honoris causa)
Professor Wai Chee Dimock is a leader of innovation in literary studies and global pedagogy. She is currently William Lampson Professor of English and American Studies at Yale University.
A native Hong Konger, Professor Dimock obtained her PhD from Yale University in 1982. She published her first major book Empire for Liberty in 1989. Her third major book Residues of Justice: Literature, Law and Philosophy was acclaimed with an Honorable Mention for the James Russell Lowell Prize of the Modern Language Association in 1996. Since joining Yale University in 1997 two other books and an extensive corpus of essays have marked her as one of the most original and path-breaking contributors to literary studies.
As reviews of her work note, Professor Dimock is idiosyncratic, unorthodox, provocative, resilient, out of the box. Through intersecting influences from disparate sources including philosophy, law, media studies, postcolonial theory and literature she answers questions about internationalising American literature. By striving for a defiantly transnational approach to scholarship she picks fights with national institutions and perceived wisdom. The results, seen most clearly in her fourth book, Through Other Continents: American Literature across Deep Time, illustrates the potential of American Studies as an international field that is part of a larger global intellectual community. Fittingly, this work received an Honorable Mention for the Harry Levin Prize of the American Comparative Literature Association in 2007.
Professor Dimock’s pedagogy shows similar innovation. Her course on “Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Faulkner” was selected by Yale as one of their on-line Open Yale Courses. She has also served as the advisor to the on-line series “Invitation to World Literature”.
Professor Dimock is a long time friend of HKBU. She was chairperson of the Academic Consultation Panel of the Faculty of Arts and the Re-accreditation Panel of the Humanities Programme. Curriculum re-engineering and further investment laid a solid foundation for the evolution of the Programme into the Department of Humanities and Creative Writing in September 2012.
Dr. Kennedy Wong (Doctor of Laws, honoris causa)
Dr. Kennedy Wong has made outstanding achievements as a legal professional and an entrepreneur. He 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 many cities around the world.Apart from managing his expanding law firm, Dr. Wong has also embarked on different investment projects on the Mainland since the 1980s.
Dr. Wong is dedicated to advancing the development of society in Hong Kong and on the Mainland. He has been enthusiastically promoting whole-person development, in particular patriotic education, among the youth of Hong Kong for the last decade. He has been Chairman of the Hong Kong United Youth Association and Vice-Chairman of the All-China Youth Federation. He also co-founded the Hong Kong-Taiwan Exchange Foundation. 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 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, 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 service, he was named one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons of Hong Kong and one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World. In addition, the University of Kent, his alma mater, named him an Honorary Doctor of Civil Laws.
HKBU has shared a deep association and friendship with Dr. Wong for many years. In as early as 2002, Dr. Wong was appointed a member of the Council. He has also served on various HKBU committees. 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”. Last year, he donated HK$1 million designated for “Active Pulse Analyzer for Traditional Chinese Medicine Applications” and further pledged to donate HK$10 million to the University for the establishment of the Distinguished Visiting Professorship Scheme.
Mr. Wilfred Wong (Doctor of Humanities, honoris causa)
Mr. Wilfred Wong is a leader and champion of the political, economic and cultural development of Hong Kong and China. He is currently Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hsin Chong Construction Group Limited, Chairman and Executive Director of Synergis Holdings Limited and Chairman of the Pacific Basin Economic Council.
Mr. Wong has a truly outstanding record of public and private sector leadership. With 17 years of service for the Administrative Officer Grade of the Hong Kong Government, he has had significant impact on policy formulation, community building and the promotion of industry and technology across Hong Kong, China and the Pacific Basin. Mr. Wong contributed to the drafting of the Basic Law and advised the Chinese Government on transitional matters relating to the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).
He has been a Deputy to the National People’s Congress since 1997. For his dedicated service to the community, Mr. Wong was appointed Justice of the Peace in 2003 and awarded the Silver Bauhinia Star in 2007 by the HKSAR Government. In addition, through his devoted service as the President of the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups, Chairman of the Social Welfare Advisory Committee and as Deputy Chairman and then Chairman of HKBU Council and Court, Mr. Wong has built a formidable reputation for inspiring and nurturing young people as citizens of the globalised age.
Under his stewardship from 2002 to 2012, HKBU underwent an unprecedented stage of continuous growth. This included the physical expansion of the University in Kowloon Tong, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Changshu, the successful transition to a four-year undergraduate curriculum, the phenomenal growth of research at the University, and the founding of the Academy of Film. Mr. Wong has made and helped secure donations and pledges exceeding HK$100 million to make such growth possible.
Mr. Wong is equally passionate about the city and region’s cultural development. He is currently Chairman of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, Deputy Chairman of the Film Development Council and Convener of the Film Development Fund.
Professor Wu Jianmin (Doctor of Humanities, honoris causa)
Professor Wu Jianmin is a veteran diplomat with over 40 years of experience in international diplomacy. He is greatly respected both within China and overseas. Professor Wu has also made remarkable contributions to the training of diplomats. He is now a professor at China Foreign Affairs University.
Professor Wu graduated from the Department of French of the then Beijing Foreign Languages Institute. He interpreted French for state leaders, served as a member of the first Permanent Mission to the United Nations and was Spokesperson and Director-General at the Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was Ambassador and Plenipotentiary to the Netherlands, Ambassador and Plenipotentiary to United Nations Office at Geneva and other international organisations in Switzerland, and Ambassador and Plenipotentiary to France.
During his ambassadorship to France, Professor Wu successfully arranged the meeting between the then Chairman Jiang Zemin and the French President Jacques Chirac and later the reciprocal visit of President Chirac to China. Professor Wu played an instrumental role in launching “Les Années Chine-France” (The Years of China and France). During his ambassadorship in France, Professor Wu helped promote exchanges between China and France on different fronts, and the trade volume between the two countries saw an unprecedented growth. In recognition of his outstanding contribution to Sino-French relations, Professor Wu was awarded the honour of “Grand Officier de la Légion d’Honneur” in 2003.
Another notable achievement of Professor Wu is his crucial role in China’s bid for hosting the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai. Professor Wu was the first Asian and the first person from a developing country to take up the prestigious position of President of International Exhibitions Bureau.Upon his return from France, Professor Wu was appointed President of China Foreign Affairs University. During his presidency, Professor Wu built up a training system for diplomatic talent. By proposing the concept of “diplomatic resources”, Professor Wu advocates Chinese diplomacy as a resource for economic development. In doing so, Professor Wu has helped China establish friendships and networks worldwide, building a valuable foundation on which the country can further develop.
Professor Wu has developed a close friendship with HKBU in recent years. He visited the University and delivered lectures and seminars at various departments.