Bulletin Special Supplement on Prof. Charles K. Kao, Former Vice-Chancellor and Nobel Laureate The Love and Labour of a Laureate

6 Chinese University Bulletin Special Supplement 2010 Top: Professor Kao at a welcoming party on his visit to Hong Kong as vice-chancellor- designate in May 1987. On his left are Mrs. Gwen Kao and Prof. Ma Lin ✶ Above: Professor Kao at Vice-Chancellor’s lodge in 1988 I n 1970, the ‘master of light’ left IT T for illumination of a different nature— education. He founded the Department of Electronics at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Then in 1987, he accepted an invitation to be the Vice-Chancellor of CUHK. Having grown up as a young boy who fashioned mud bombs out of red phosphorus powder and potassium chlorate, Kao was convinced of the importance of freedom and curiosity to academic creativity. He once said in an interview when asked what in his early life had sparked his interest in science, that he had been surrounded by people who were curiosity-driven, and they had learnt by reading and experimenting. That had opened their minds without the constraint of having had to follow a rigid course of study. He added that by being over-protective, parents limit the possibilities open to their children. Out-of-the-box thinking, he concluded, is extremely important.