Bulletin Special Supplement Ever in My Heart: Professor Ambrose King and The Chinese University

中文大學校刊 · 特刊 Chinese University Bulletin · Special Supplement 18 Peking University, where Mr. Cai Yuanpei served as President, was the cradle of the new cultural movement. It advocated new ideas and thinking and its influence was felt throughout the country. It was a prime example of a university ‘leading society’ and an unusual one at that. In the knowledge-based society of today, universities develop knowledgeand theories that directlyor indirectlyaffect thedevelopment of society. The creation of knowledge and the grooming of talent are a university’s greatest service to society. According to this definition, there is no conflict between the roles of leading and serving. Of course, if the concept of ‘service’ is extended beyond what is appropriate so it negatively affects a university’s core responsibilities, that is, teaching and research, then there would be conflict and contradiction. 你曾經提到大學必須有所守和有所變。可以談一下嗎？ You once mentioned that there are certain things a university must preserve and certain things it must change. Could you elaborate on this? 一間成功的大學，在它的展過程中，都必須有所守，有所變。我對牛 津和劍橋這兩間古老大學的歷史演變曾有過這樣的觀察。其實，百年 來，特別是二次大戰之後，世界一些著名的學府無不經歷了多次的大 變化，都在變中成長壯大。變是發展的主調，變的動源多數是外在的， 不過它們在變中仍會堅守大學的核心任務，那 就是在教學與研究上追求卓越的決心與執著。 今天全球化的態勢十分激烈，任何一間有作為 的大學，不能不把自己放在全球的格局中，那 樣，就必須時刻自省自勵，作出必要的變革， 以保持全球性的競爭力。但無論作甚麼變革， 都不能不堅守大學的核心任務。 A successful university must both change and remain unchanged in the process of development. I have observed this from the historical evolvement of two old and established universities, Oxford and Cambridge. In the last century, especially after World War II, all famous universities in the world underwent countless drastic changes as they grew and thrived. Change was the theme of development and its motivation was often external. But these universities managed to uphold their core duty, that is, the steadfast pursuit of excellence in teaching and research. Today, given the intensity of globalization, any university with promise must position itself in the global context. It must engage in self- n n 金耀基校長主持四十周年校慶公開講座，論述「全球 化與大學之定位」（二零零三年九月二十日） Prof. Ambrose King delivered a public lecture on ‘Universities in the Age of Globalization’ during the 40th Anniversary Fair (20 September 2003)