Bulletin Spring 1976

interview with Dr.S.W.Tam Dr. Shang-wai Tam entered the University of Hong Kong in 1955 as the King Edward VII Scholar, where he read Chemistry and obtained the degrees of B. Sc. and M. Sc. Dr. Tarn was awarded the degree of Ph.D. in 1964 by the University of Nottingham. Dr. Tam has engaged in research at various universities including Nottingham University, Cambridge University, Basel University in Switzerland and Massachusettes Institute of Technology. His research interests may be grouped into three areas: (1) mass spectrometric study of ion structures (2) syntheses of naturally occurring compounds (3) organometallic reactions Dr. Tarn joined this University in 1965 as Lecturer in Chemistry at Chung Chi College. He assumed the concurrent post of Associate Dean of the Graduate School in 1974 and became Acting Dean one year later. He was appointed Master of the Postgraduate Hall Complex upon its completion in March 1976. Q. The Graduate School is an important unit of the University. What part does it play in realizing the aims of the University? A. The Graduate School is an important unit in the sense that it helps to discharge the main responsibilities of the University: teaching, research and community service. Teaching at the Graduate School consists of lectures and supervision of students' research. Some of the courses of the School may also be taken by undergraduates as electives or audit courses. Research of the graduate students sometimes ties in with projects of the Research Institutes or Research Centres of the University, such as the research on hawkers of the Social Research Centre. Research findings of our students may help to solve social problems or contribute to the world of learning and knowledge. Our external examiners often commend our students on the high standard of their theses. This year, for instance, it has been remarked that two of the theses for our M.Phil, in Science may be submitted as Ph.D. theses with only slight revisions. Academic journals of international renown have also accepted for publication articles of our Science students based on their master's theses. It should also be mentioned that the Harvard-Yenching Institute has donated a Prize for Publication, to provide for the publication of the best master's thesis of the year on Chinese studies. So far we have published four theses, with two more in the press. As for faculty research, I do not propose to single out the research efforts of Graduate School faculty because in fact there is virtually no separate faculty, but I can say that our colleagues are on the whole very active in research. Q. One of the aims of university education is to train students to think independently, to 6