Campus Digest

HKBU appoints Professor Roland Chin as new President and Vice-Chancellor

22 May 2015

Professor Roland Chin is appointed as HKBU’s 5th President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Roland Chin is appointed as HKBU’s 5th President and Vice-Chancellor
Professor Roland Chin is appointed as HKBU’s 5th President and Vice-Chancellor

 

Hong Kong Baptist University announced today the appointment of Professor Roland Chin Tai-hong, a prominent academic leader with outstanding higher education development and management experience, as its President and Vice-Chancellor for a term of five years with effect from 1 September 2015. Professor Chin will succeed Professor Albert Chan who will retire in July 2015. 

Professor Chin has been Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, and Chair Professor of Computer Science of The University of Hong Kong since 2010. Prior to that, he had served The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology between 1992 and 2010, and was Vice-President for Research and Development (2003-2006), before becoming Deputy President and Provost (2006-2010). 

The appointment was made after a thorough search process by the Search Committee through open recruitment locally and internationally. In late April 2015, the Interview Panel, which comprises the committee members and presidents of HKBU Students’ Union and HKBU Alumni Association, unanimously decided to recommend Professor Chin for the post of President and Vice-Chancellor. 

The Search Committee introduced Professor Roland Chin to the Council in the Council meeting held on 14 May. After considering the views collected in the six consultation sessions, the Committee reaffirmed its recommendation to the Council on the appointment of Professor Chin as the new President and Vice-Chancellor. Upon the recommendation of the Search Committee, the Council unanimously approved the appointment by members’ written resolution today. 

Mr Cheng Yan-kee, Chairman of the Council as well as the Search Committee, was delighted at Professor Chin’s appointment. He said: “The Search Committee was impressed by Professor Chin’s distinguished academic achievements, leadership abilities, commitment and contribution to education, as well as his rich experience in higher education and public service. The Search Committee concluded that Professor Chin is the most suitable person to take the helm at HKBU. The Council is confident that Professor Chin, as the University’s next President and Vice-Chancellor, will succeed in leading HKBU to scale new heights and will work closely with other university community members to fulfil its strategic goals.” 

Mr Cheng thanked members of the Search Committee and the Interview Panel for their hard work during the recruitment exercise. He also expressed his appreciation for the valuable comments provided by staff, students and alumni in the consultation sessions, focus group meetings and through e-mails. 

Professor Chin is pleased to be appointed. “I am honoured that the University’s students, staff and Council have entrusted me with this leadership position. For nearly six decades, HKBU has nurtured leaders with passion and a commitment to be responsible citizens, achieving notable results and a strong international reputation. I look forward to contributing to the University’s next stage of development in partnership with students and my fellow colleagues, and realising its vision of becoming the regional leader in whole person education that delivers academic excellence and innovation.”  

Professor Chin said he will uphold HKBU’s ethos of Whole Person Education, further enhance academic exchanges and collaboration with partners in the region and beyond, promote interdisciplinary research, and foster internationalisation. “I will endeavour to bring the University to a new height as one of the region’s leading institutions of higher learning.” 

Professor Albert Chan, President and Vice-Chancellor, welcomed the appointment. He said: “Professor Chin has prestigious academic standing, a most impressive leadership record and substantial management experience. I am certain he will assume an instrumental role in taking HKBU to a new level of development.” 

Professor Chin was born in Macau and raised in Hong Kong. He graduated from the University of Missouri, Columbia, USA, with Bachelor’s and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering. Upon graduation, he worked at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland for two years before starting his teaching career at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, from 1981 to 1995. Professor Chin is renowned for his research in the areas of computer vision, image processing, and pattern recognition, and has won numerous prestigious awards in the field. 

Apart from having extensive and solid teaching and management experience in tertiary institutions, Professor Chin is active in public service. He was a member of the University Grants Committee (UGC) from 2004 to 2012, and the Chairman of the Research Grants Council (RGC) between 2005 and 2012. He is the Convenor of the Research Assessment Exercise 2014 of the UGC and was in the same capacity from 2005 to 2007 for the Research Assessment Exercise 2006. In addition, Professor Chin has served on numerous committees in public bodies, including the Employees Retraining Board, Quality Education Fund, Applied Research Council, Innovation and Technology Commission, Commission on Strategic Development, and Cyberport Board of Directors, and he was Chairman of Hong Kong Education City Board of Directors. He is Chairman of Science Museum Advisory Panel, a board member of the Applied Science and Technology Research Institute, trustee of The Croucher Foundation and a member of the Steering Committee on Innovation and Technology of the HKSAR Government.   

The search process of the new president and vice-chancellor of HKBU began in August 2014. The University Council established a Search Committee which included four staff representatives elected by colleagues and appointed an executive search firm to assist. The profiles of about 150 local and overseas scholars were reviewed. A dedicated website (http://pvcsearch.hkbu.edu.hk) was set up, and comments and suggestions collected from staff, students and alumni through consultation sessions and focus group meetings formed the basis for the selection criteria. During the interview process, in order to raise the representativeness, the Interview Panel comprised not only members of the Search Committee but also President of the HKBU Students’ Union and President of the HKBU Alumni Association.  In addition, six consultation sessions were organised by the Search Committee for the University community to exchange views with the presidential candidate.