Bulletin Spring‧Summer 1991

Dr.Choh-Ming Li:His Life andH is W ork Eulogy by Prof. Ambrose C. King, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, CUHK We have come here today to mourn the passing of an educationalist who dedicated his whole life to academic pursuits and learning, someone we all deeply cherish in our memories: our founding vice-chancellor, Dr. Choh-Ming Li. Achievements in the Early Years Dr. L i wa s born on 17t h February 1912 i n Canton. With a successful manufacturer as their father, Dr. Li an dhis 10 brothers an dsisters all established themselves in the fields o f science, medicine, or education. Dr. L i received his secondary education from Pui Ying Middle School i n Canton and was once a student o fNanking University. He then furthered his studies i n the University o f California at Berkeley, and obtained his BA in 1932, MA in 1933 and Ph.D. in 1936. Dr. L ireturned t oChina at the beginning of the Sino-Japanese War. During wartime he taught a t Nankai University in Tien-tsin, at the Southwest Associated Universities, and a t Central University, being one o fthe youngest and most renowned professors of economics at th e time. For about two years, he was also on a special mission to the USA, Canada, and the UK to study economic reconstruction issues an dto lecture o n Chinese economics and culture. After the second World War, he served concurrently as deputy director general of the Chinese National Relief and Rehabilitation Administration; chief delegate t o th e United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Conferences and to the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Fa rEast; as well as chairman of th eBoard of Trustees for Rehabilitation Affairs. I n 1951, Dr .L i accepted an offer from his Alma Mater, th eUniversity of California a t Berkeley, to be professor o fbusiness administration wit h concurrent appointments as chairman of th eDepartment o f International Business, and director o f the Center fo r Chinese Studies. It was during this period that Dr. L i excelled himself in teaching and research and published two of his masterpieces on contemporary China: Economic Development of Communist China a n d Statistical System of Communist China. Under his able leadership, the Center for Chinese Studies achieved much success and enjoyed much fame as akey centre in North America for studies about China. Founding aNew University In 1962, Dr. L i was invited by the Hong Kong Government to serve as amember o f thefirst Fulton Commission, which subsequently recommended the establishment o fa second university i nHong Kong. That was a n epoch-making event in the history of local tertiary education, an d th e tasko f masterminding this important project fell upon Dr . Li's In Memory of Dr. C. M. L i 3