Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 1990

The Federa t i on of A l umni Assoc i a t i ons to Run Th r ee Schoo ls Since its inception in September 1978, the Federation of Alumni Associations (FAA) of The Chinese University of Hong Kong has strived to forge close links between the alumni and their alma mater, to publicize the achievements of their members, and to support the activities of the University and its students. In recent years, it has also started to run education services for the local community. This is a long- term project which began with the establishment of a primary school in autumn 1987, to be followed by a kindergarten and a secondary school to open sometime in 1991. Primary School The education programmes of the FAA are coordinated by its subsidiary, the Education Foundation of the Federation of CUHK Alumni Associations Ltd. The Foundation applied to the government's Education Department in 1984 for permission to run a government subsidized primary school, and set up an ad hoc fund-raising committee for the project. Thanks to support from many alumni, more than $800,000 was raised. In July 1986, the school premises in Ka Tin Estate, Sha Tin was handed over to the Foundation by the government. The new school, named The Federation of Alumni Associations of The Chinese University of Hong Kong Thomas Cheung School, began operation in September 1987. From three classes in the beginning, it has now expanded to comprise 48 classes with a total of 1,900 students. Kindergarten In May 1990, a site in Kara Ying Court of Ma On Shan was allocated by the government to the Foundation as premises for a kindergarten. The site is directly opposite The Chinese University across Tolo Harbour with a total floor area of over 1,200 square metres. Preparation work is now in full swing and classes are expected to begin around May 1991. Secondary School In October 1990, the Education Department requested the Foundation to establish a new secondary school, and has since designated premises currently under construction in Tin Shui Wai, Yuen Long for this purpose. Construction work cannot be finished before autumn 1992, but the school has planned to admit its first students in September 1991. Arrangements have therefore been made for other schools to provide temporary accommodation in the interim period. With so many new projects in the pipeline, the FAA has launched a fund-raising campaign to solicit support from members as well as from the public. To show appreciation of their generosity, names of donors will be engraved in marble monuments to be installed in the two new schools. Donations reaching a specific amount will be further acknowledged by the naming of school halls, classrooms, or special rooms after the benefactors. So far some $3,000,000 has been raised. • Ou t s t and i ng A l umnus Rece i ves Prest igious Awa rd Dr. Gabriel Ngar-cheung Lau (1974 graduate in physics), a scientist at the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) and a lecturer at Princeton University, has been awarded the 1990 American Meteorological Society's Clarence Leroy Meisinger Award for his 'outstanding studies of low-frequency variability in the atmosphere by a synthesis of modelling and diagnostics'. The Meisinger Award is given in recognition of exceptional research achievement in the observation, theory, and modelling of atmospheric motions. Dr. Gabriel Lau was brought up in Hong Kong and received his bachelor's degree at The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1974. He pursued graduate studies at the University of Washington and obtained his Ph.D. degree in 1978. He has since been working at the GFDL. His research has been focused principally on the diagnosis and model simulation of atmospheric variability on times ranging from several days to several years. Dr. Lau has also been very active in the world scientific community, serving as a member on the organizing committee for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO ) Expert Study Meeting on long-range forecasting in 1982 and participating in numerous WMO conferences and National Science Foundation workshops. Dr. Lau has authored or co-authored more than 30 scientific publications, mostly in the Journal of Atmospheric Sciences, Monthly Weather Review, and the Journal of Climates. He has also contributed to chapters in monographs and books and published extensive compilations of atmospheric circulation statistics. • ALUMNI NEWS 20