PRESS RELEASE
HKBU to confer honorary doctoral degrees upon six distinguished persons
Wednesday, 25 Sep 2019
Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) will confer honorary doctoral degrees upon six distinguished persons for their outstanding professional achievements and remarkable contributions to society.
Dr Cheng Yan-kee, Dr Liu Chak-wan and Mr Stanley Yim Yuk-lun will be awarded the degree of Doctor of Business Administration, honoris causa. Professor Jeremy K Nicholson and Professor Sir Fraser Stoddart will be bestowed the degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa. Professor Zhong Binglin will receive the degree of Doctor of Social Sciences, honoris causa.
Dr Cheng Yan-kee (Doctor of Business Administration, honoris causa)
Dr Cheng Yan-kee is a distinguished consulting civil and structural engineer who has practised in the USA, Hong Kong and mainland China for over 40 years. He was named President of the Institution of Structural Engineers in 2013.
Dr Cheng is well known for his commitment to community service. He served as Chairman of the Corruption Prevention Advisory Committee under the Independent Commission Against Corruption, and was a member of the Hong Kong Housing Authority, Hospital Authority, Town Planning Board and Commission on Youth, and their respective functional committees.
He was appointed a Council Member of HKBU in 1999, Deputy Chairman of the Council and the Court in 2007, and Chairman of both bodies from 2013 to 2018. During his two decades of service, he has made tremendous contributions to HKBU. At a time when Hong Kong higher education was undergoing major changes, he has provided strong leadership and wise counsel on many important University initiatives.
Dr Liu Chak-wan (Doctor of Business Administration, honoris causa)
Dr Liu Chak-wan is an eminent entrepreneur and community leader. He is the Chairman of Liu's Commerce and Industry Limited, which covers a variety of industries including trading, garment manufacturing, bus transportation, technology, property development and banking.
Dr Liu's commitment to the community is reflected in his government and community service. He has been a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference since 1993, serving as a Standing Committee Member since 2008, and a member of the Executive Council of the Macau SAR. He has served the Macau Foundation, along with a wide range of education, community development, and business and professional organisations.
Dr Liu co-founded the Macau University of Science and Technology, where he still serves as Chancellor. He is also Honorary Chairman of the Council of the Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and a Council member of Jinan University. In recognition of his outstanding achievements and contributions to the University and society at large, he was awarded an HKBU Honorary University Fellowship in 2007 and the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2016.
Professor Jeremy K Nicholson (Doctor of Science, honoris causa)
Professor Jeremy K Nicholson is well known for his influence in systems medicine and for developing our understanding of the human microbiome. As a pioneer in biomedicine, he has elevated metabolic phenotyping as an important area of academic inquiry and contributed to many technical innovations.
Professor Nicholson is the Pro Vice Chancellor of Health Sciences and Executive Director of the Australian National Phenome Centre at Murdoch University, Australia. Previously at Imperial College London, he was Head of the Department of Surgery and Cancer in the Faculty of Medicine.
Professor Nicholson received the SAC Gold and Silver Medals from the Royal Society of Chemistry in the United Kingdom (UK) in 1997 and 1992 respectively. He was awarded the Interdisciplinary Prize of the Society in 2007, and the Theophilus Redwood Lectureship in 2008. Professor Nicholson was elected as a Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences in 2010. He is also an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and an Honorary Lifetime Fellow of the International Metabolomics Society. He holds honorary professorships at eight universities, including institutions in China and Australia. In 2014, he was appointed as an Albert Einstein Honorary Professor by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Professor Sir Fraser Stoddart (Doctor of Science, honoris causa)
Professor Sir Fraser Stoddart is a pioneer in molecular mechanostereochemistry. Some 30 years ago, he established a new field in chemistry which focuses on the making of mechanical bonds to produce molecular shuttles, switches and machines. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2016 along with two fellow scientists.
Sir Fraser began working on mechanically interlocked molecules in the late 1970s, and then became a professor at the University of Birmingham. In 1997, he was appointed as the Saul Winstein Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles. He later joined the California NanoSystems Institute and became its Director from 2002 to 2007. In 2008, Sir Fraser joined Northwestern University in the US and was named a Board of Trustees Professor of Chemistry.
Sir Fraser was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2007 for his work in chemistry and molecular nanotechnology. In the same year, he was awarded the Albert Einstein World Award of Science. He is the recipient of at least 16 world-class honours and awards and holds fellowships at more than nine prestigious institutions.
Mr Stanley Yim Yuk-lun (Doctor of Business Administration, honoris causa)
Mr Stanley Yim Yuk-lun is a visionary entrepreneur and a passionate philanthropist. He is the founder, Chairman and Managing Director of S.A.S. Dragon Holdings Limited, a leading provider of electronic supply chain services in the Greater China region, and a leading entrepreneur in the industry.
Mr Yim has contributed significantly to the community through his active involvement in various businesses and social endeavours. He is a member of the Shanghai Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference; a permanent advisor to the Advisory Board and the former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Yan Chai Hospital; and the Honorary Vice Chairman of The Hong Kong Electronic Industries Association.
Mr Yim has given much back to society, and he has made magnificent donations to many charitable organisations. He is also a generous supporter of HKBU and has made donations to support its development. He was honoured with a Bronze Bauhinia Star by the HKSAR Government and presented the Outstanding Achievement Award by the Hong Kong Electronics Industry Council in 2018.
Professor Zhong Binglin (Doctor of Social Sciences, honoris causa)
Professor Zhong Binglin is a renowned educator who has made tremendous contributions in modernising mainland China's universities and addressing quality and equity issues in the country's schools.
Professor Zhong obtained his bachelor's and master's degrees in engineering from the Nanjing Institute of Technology (now Southeast University). Soon after obtaining his PhD degree from the University of Wales in 1994, he was appointed Vice-President of Southeast University.
In 1996, Professor Zhong became Director General of the Department of Higher Education in the Ministry of Education. He mapped out plans to merge and reform the Mainland's institutes of higher learning into comprehensive universities, as at the time they focused on highly specialised disciplines. In 2001, he was appointed President of Beijing Normal University, leading the institution to become a comprehensive research university which is committed to providing unique programmes in teacher education and arts and science disciplines. In a pioneering move, he led the University to team up with HKBU, and together the two universities launched the United International College in Zhuhai.
In 2012, Professor Zhong became the President of the Chinese Society for Education and offered advice to policy-makers at all levels of the education system. Currently, he is a member of the National Education Consultative Committee; a member of the Academic Degree Committee of the State Council and convener of its Education Appraisal Panel; and head of the National Steering Committee for Professional Degree Education in Educational Science. He is also a member of several national education committees.
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Media enquiries:
Christina Wu of the Communication & Public Relations Office (3411 7828 / 9866 6978, hkbunews@hkbu.edu.hk)
