Newsletter No. 34

No.34 September 1992 CUHK Newsletter Business Administration until recently and, to quote Sir Murray, ‘…I suspect few have much to teach [the Pao family] about the practical side of business administration. Their extraordinary capacity for hard work, clear thought and intense self-discipline, should inspire those who work here ...' Indeed we have seen agood number of students thus inspired, as they move on from the classrooms in the Sui-loong Pao Building to high positions in commerce or academic research. John Fulton Centre The Right Honourable Lord Fulton of Palmer (1902-1986) is, even to those who have but an inkling of the history of The Chinese University, a most important figure: he proposed the establishment of the Chinese University to the Hong Kong Government, and devised the blueprint for its structure and operation. Upon his death the Council pronounced him a founding father of the University, and decision was promptly passed for a new staff/ student amenities building, adjacent to the Benjamin Franklin Centre, to be named after him. The dedication ceremony took place in October 1989; Mr. Andrew Li, QC, chairman of the UPGC, was the guest of honour, and Lord Fulton's family was represented by his son, Dr. Oliver Fulton. There can be no doubt that a centre of staff and student activities would be the most fitting memorial to this elder statesman in British and Commonwealth higher education, as Dr. Oliver Fulton made clear in his speech at the ceremony: 'This John Fulton Centre in which we stand today is, if you like, a symbol of Lord Fulton's belief: that the university is not just a collection of classrooms, laboratories and libraries, but a living space in which all the human needs of students and staffalike can be cared for. ’ Adam Schall Residence So far we have been talking about places named after persons with Chinese University associations in the main. Let us now proceed to a building dedicated to someone who was born 400 years ago, and whose anniversary is celebrated by the issue of special stamps in Germany this year. The first student hostel to be built at United College bears the name of Adam Schall (1592-1666), a German Jesuit who came to China as a missionary during the last years of the Ming Dynasty. His career in China spanned over 40 years, and his appointment as Astronomer Imperial at the Manchu court made it possible for the knowledge of Western science and technology to be imparted to the early Qing emperors. The Adam Schall Residence, opened in December 1971, was half paid for by funds raised in Germany through the Society of Jesus and the Maryknoll Sisters, hence the Jesuit motto on the hostel's foundation stone, Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam. However, the dedication of the hostel to Adam Schall did not only commemorate the fact that it was a gift of the Catholic Church in Germany, but, more importantly, it represented the determination of the University and United College to promote international goodwill and the integration of Eastern and Western cultures, efforts which found ample manifestation in the long career of Father Adam Schall. 9