CUHK: Five Decades in Pictures

50 第三個十年： 1983–1992 T he ten years between 1983 and 1992 make for a relatively quiet decade in the University’s early history, as the thundering noises of the bulldozers and the piling machines had given way to powerful music by Bach and Messiaen from the organ in the Chung Chi Chapel, maybe equal in decibels but certainly a lot more pleasing to the ear and to the intellectual mind. The campus had, by the dawn of the University’s third decade, been more or less licked into its present shape, with the major teaching, administrative and residential facilities in place, and the rugged terrain tamed and harnessed in readiness for zoning and development in the years to come. By 1983, the Chinese University had become well known enough among the citizens of Hong Kong for being a place where their children might ‘have a good education, and get a good job afterwards’. With the transition of Hong Kong’s economic emphasis from manufacturing and entrepot trade to the service industries, the 1980s were a golden age for degree-holders, with an enviable abundance of white-collar jobs. The Chinese University responded to the needs of the community very well during this decade, and supplied commercial firms, financial institutions, schools, and the Government with young blood of the highest quality. The 1980s also saw the University beginning to augment the ranks of the upper echelon of the Civil Service on a regular basis, there being a steady stream of fresh graduates entering the Administrative Grade every year. On the other hand, the University was true to its academic mission, and research was carried out with enthusiasm and vigour in various disciplines. In 1983, the first PhD of CUHK received his round hat. While the Graduate School was fast beefing up its programmes and turned out star graduates who would, in due course, illumine the academic firmament worldwide, another excitement was quietly brewing in a far corner of Shatin. The first graduates of the newly established Faculty of Medicine took their degrees in 1986, bringing to fruition a dream of the University’s founding fathers, and fulfilling their promise that the University would faithfully serve the community by providing high-calibre professionals in areas where they were most needed. That promise was further enhanced with the establishment of the Department of Nursing in 1991 (renamed The Nethersole School of Nursing in 2002) and the School of Pharmacy in 1992. On the industrial front, the Chinese University, which played a pioneering role in introducing electronic engineering to higher education in Hong Kong, established its Faculty of Engineering in 1991. As the University grew in stature and reputation among the important seats of learning around the world, the need for expansion was keenly felt and, following the best traditions in collegiate institutions, a new College was to be built, with a generous endowment from Sir Run Run Shaw. The foundation stone of Shaw College was laid in 1987, and its doors were opened in 1990. In the meantime the University continued to work hard to secure its position among the leading institutions of higher learning in the region, and landmark