Vice-Chancellor's Report 1978-82

Chapter 1 Introduction When Dr. Choh-Ming Li, my predecessor, retired from the Vice-Chancellorship of the University i n 1978 ， the University was then jus t fiftee n year s old . Th e histor y o f th e Universit y fro m it s establishment i n 196 3 t o th e tim e o f th e departur e o f Dr . L i i n 1978 can roughly be divided into three periods, which were covered b y hi s thre e reports : The First Six Years (1963-69 )， The Emerging University (1970-74 )， and A New Era Begins (1975-78). During the first six years of its existence, the University was mainly concerned wi th drawing the outline of its physical development and setting in bold brush-strokes those goals and structures essential to a modern university. Thus after a great deal of negotiation and hard work, the site of the University and its overall planning were finalized at the end of this period. It has since been built up i n accordance wi th that plan, bringing into existence today's magnificent campus. Looking back, one must pay tribute to the founders of the University—the late Sir C.Y. Kwan and Dr. R.C. Lee, who had the foresight and determination to ensure for the University such a spacious and wide-open dwelling, which would allow it to grow without restriction for many years to come. One must also be grateful to the University Architect, Dr. the Honourable W. Szeto, and his Consultant Architect, Dr. I .M. Pei, who had thoughtfully set down sites for the land platforms and roads, and buildings and malls, which fitted together logically and harmoniousl into an integral whole on a complicated terrain. In addition to sites and building plans, a broad outline of the academic landscape of the University has also been laid down. Thus it had been determined from the very beginning that the University would be a bilingual institution, wi th Chinese as the principal medium of instruction; that it would be dedicated to both traditional Chinese scholarship and modem Western scholarship, and to the synthesis of the two; thus the University could not be merely an undergraduate teaching institution: there would have to be postgraduate programmes pursued wi th seriousness and 1