Bulletin Spring‧Summer 2006

10 Chinese University Bulletin Spring • Summer 2006 Dr. Chen Fong Ching D r. Chen Fong Ching is a distinguished scholar and university administrator who has rendered four decades of outstanding service to The Chinese University. He is currently honorary senior research fellow of the Institute of Chinese Studies, senior college tutor of United College, and honorary professor of the Department of Physics. Dr. Chen was awarded the Zhu Kezhen History of Science Visiting Professorship by the Institute of History of Natural Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2004. Dr. Chen obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Physics from Harvard University and Ph.D. in physics from Brandeis University. He joined the Department of Physics of The Chinese University as lecturer in 1966 and was promoted to senior lecturer in 1977. He was made University Secretary in 1980 and director of the Institute of Chinese Studies in 1986. Since his retirement in July 2002, Dr. Chen has continued to offer his service to CUHK as honorary senior research fellow. As Secretary of the University for six years, Dr. Chen helped to reform the administrative s y s t e m , a n d contributed to the University in academic policies and institutional management. To improve the quality of student intake, he took a leading part in the formulation and implementation of the Provisional Acceptance Scheme, which has had far-reaching impact on the development of the University. A conscientious scholar, Dr. Chen has worked on both science and Chinese studies. During his directorship of the Institute of Chinese Studies from 1986 to 2002, he worked hard to live up to the motto ‘to combine tradition with modernity and to bring together China and the West’. He established the Research Centre for Contemporary Chinese Culture, founded the journal Twenty-First Century in collaboration with Profs. Jin Guantao and Liu Qingfeng, serving as the convenor of the editorial board and taking part in its editorial work. Starting in 1988, Dr. Chen collaborated with Prof. Lau Din Cheuk, Prof. Jao Tsung I and other young colleagues in building a computerized database of Chinese ancient texts, which now contains some 60 million words of over 100 texts spanning over 3,000 years, and is available on the web to scholars. In 2004 Dr. Chen donated a statue of Dr. Choh-Ming Li to the University in commemoration of his role as the founding Vice-Chancellor of the University, and also as the founding director of the Institute of Chinese Studies.