A New Era Begins 1975-78

Q. To be the Vice-Chancellor of a new university is of course no easy task. What is the most difficult aspect of your job? A. For the first Vice-Chancellor of not only a new university but of a university of such nature as The Chinese University, the greatest difficulty was to get the three Colleges to work together as an integral part of an organic university for the sake of maximizing the utility o f human, financial and material resources that were made available to the University by the community, in order to build up a first-rate university. Q. What gave you the most satisfaction during your tenure? A. Many different answers could be given, each with equal truth. For example, to see the three Colleges together on the new site for the first time in 1973 was very gratifying. But looking over th e fifteen years I find the most satisfaction in the fact that the university community of the world has given us due recognition and respect and holds high expectation for our future. Q. We all know that you have an exceptional ability for raising funds for various projects of the University. What is the secret of your success? A. Raising funds abroad is generally less difficult than raising funds in the local community, for the simple reaso n that Chinese do not have the tradition of giving large sums to philanthropic enterprises. What has turned the trick in the case of The Chinese University is our fortune in gaining the confidence of th e community in what we are doing and what we want to do. Q. Would you please comment on the present academic standard of The Chinese University? A. The academic standard of any university depends primarily on the teaching staff who must not only be goo d teachers but also serious research workers trying har d to advance the frontiers of knowledge. Nearly all of our recruits for various faculties have been Ph.D.'s, i f we could use that as a convenient indication of their academic qualifications. But even more significantly, the results of various research centres and institutes in recent years have grown exponentially, and they are mostly published in learned journals of world standing. Another indication of the academic standard of the University is found i n the many favourable reports from our External Examiners, who are generally prominent scholars in their own fields, and from the graduate schools of many overseas universities about the performance of our own graduates who have gone to study with them. Q. Do you think The Chinese University has been successful in playing a leadership role in the community? 98