Bulletin Number Four 1987

Ded ica tion Ceremony o f M a L in B u i ld in g The University has named its Science Centre South Block ‘Ma Lin Building' as a tribute to Professor Ma Lin for his distinguished service asthe Vice-Chancellor from 1978 to 1987. The dedication ceremony took place on 15th October, at which Dr. the Hon. Q.W. Lee, Chairman o f the University Council, officiated and Professor Ma unveiled the commemorative plaque. The Science Centre South Block, a five-storey structure w ith a usable area o f over 6,000 square metres, houses the Departments o f Biochemistry, Biology, and Chemistry. It has been chosen to be named after Professor Ma because o f his long associ­ ation w ith both the Chemistry and the Biochemistry Departments. Professor Ma taught at the Chemistry Department when he first joined the University in 1964. Subsequently, he played a key role in the planning o f the Biochemistry Department which was formally established in 1971. Professor Ma was ap pointed the first Professor o f Biochemistry in 1973, and had held the post un til he became the Vice- Chancellor in 1978. Address by Dr. the Hon. Q.W. Lee Professor Ma ， Professor Kao, Ladies & Gentlemen ， It was said that in 1933 when James Bryant Conant, who had made his career in organic chemis try, was elected President of Harvard, A.N. Whitehead, the mathematician and philosopher, expressed surprise that a chemist had been chosen for this post. A colleague reminded him that the great Charles W. E liot, President o f Harvard from 1869 until 1909 ， had also begun his career asachemist. SaidWhitehead, 'Ah, but he was a bad chemist.' For us, Ladies & Gentlemen, the case is quite different. We are gathered here today to honour a man who began his career in this University as a good chemist in 1964 ， a man who had played a key role in the planning o f the Biochemistry Department which was formally established in 1971, and who remained the guiding hand o f that Department until he became the Vice-Chancellor o f the University in 1978. This man is, o f course, Professor Ma Lin: our first Professor o f Biochemistry, and our Vice-Chancellor for the past nine years. Standing now in this Science Centre South Block where the Biochemistry, the Biology, and the Chemistry Departments are housed, I am inspired to think that The Chinese University o f Hong Kong was very lucky indeed to have had the dedication and vision o f this distinguished biochemist as well as excellent Vice-Chancellor in the past twenty-three years. To name the building after Professor Ma is a way of recognizing his distinction as a biochemist and o f commemorating the outstanding leadership he has given to the University. It is therefore completely fitting and significant that the University Council has decided to do so upon Professor Ma's retirement from the Vice-Chancellorship. 13