Newsletter No. 191

CU's EMBA Programme: NumberOnein Asia T he Executive Master o f Business A d m i n i s t r a t i o n ( E M B A ) programme offered by the University's Faculty of Business Administration has been ranked number one in As ia by BusinessWeek, a l ead i ng business magazine in the US, and Financial Times, the leading financial newspaper in the UK . This is the first time the Financial Times a nd Business Week h a ve undertaken a global survey of this sort. In the BusinessWeek survey, which p u b l i s h ed o n l y the t op 35 E M B A programmes in the wo r l d, the C U HK programme is ranked 33 globally and number one in the Asia Pacific region, wh i ch includes Australia. E i gh t y - t wo schools w i t h E M BA p r o g r ammes w h i c h met the basic c r i t e r i a f o r i n c l u s i on we r e f i r s t identified. Then a survey o f over 3,000 recent graduates o f the programmes and a po ll done by the directors o f the 82 programmes were used to develop a ranked list. T h e s u r v e y f o c u s ed on t he students' experience at their schools, teaching qua l i t y, qua l i ty o f support services, and cu r r i cu l um f l e x i b i l i t y. For the poll, the programme directors were asked to choose 10 schools that o f f e r ed programmes o f the highest q u a l i t y . T o p p i ng t he l i s t i n t he BusinessWeek survey is the E M B A p r o g r a m m e o f N o r t h w e s t e r n University (Kellogg). I n the Financial Times survey, 72 top-tier international business schools participated in the E M BA programme c o m p a r i s o n . T he U n i v e r s i t y ' s programme was again ranked number one in Asia and number 18 globally. It was given h i gh ratings in three areas — w o r k i n g e x p e r i e n ce o f i t s participants, aims achieved, and the high number o f doctorates among its faculty. The top three programmes in the Financial Times survey are o f f e r ed r e s p e c t i v e ly by the U n i v e r s i ty o f Pennsylvania, Co l umb ia Un i ve r s i t y, and London Business School. Prof. Mu n K i n - c ho k, director o f the E M B A Programme, was excited about the results. He said it was most encouraging to f i nd the Un i ve r s i t y 's E M BA programme on the ranked lists p r epa r ed by the t wo i ndependen t, authoritative publications. It not only reaffirms the quality o f the programme but also brings greater prestige to the U n i v e r s i t y 's bus i ness s choo l. He a t t r i b u t e d t he s u c c e ss o f t he programme to the untiring efforts of all faculty members and supporting staff. Prof. Mun also pointed out that a un i que feature o f the Un i v e r s i t y 's EMBA programme is the collaboration among teachers, students, and alumni in the development o f the curriculum and the organization o f activities for l i f e - l o n g l e a r n i n g. S t uden ts and teachers wo r k as partners and learn f r om each other. E s t a b l i s h e d i n 1 9 9 3 , t h e Un i ve r s i t y 's E M B A p r og r amme is a t wo - year course o f study spec i a l ly d e s i g n e d f o r s e n i o r b u s i n e s s executives. App l i can ts must have a b a c h e l o r 's deg r ee or e q u i v a l e nt professional qualification and at least seven years o f wo r k i ng experience, i nc l ud i ng f i ve years in a managerial p o s i t i o n . T he o b j e c t i v e o f t he p r o g r a mme is to d e v e l op i n i ts p a r t i c i p a n ts e s s e n t i al s k i l l s and know l edge i n mode rn management, and to p r epa re t h em f o r g e n e r al management r espons i b i l i t i es at the senior executive level. Promoting Women's Health W omen comprise approximately h a l f the popu l a t i on o f Ho ng Kong, and at least 60 per cent o f the geriatric population. Un t i l r ecen t l y, most studies on women's health have been focused on their reproductive health. Given that a t h i r d o f a woman 's l i fe is spent i n postmenopausal years, more and more attention is now being given to the health e f f ec ts o f h o r mo n al changes, and conditions such as heart disease, female cancers, osteoporosis, disability, causes o f death, and quality o f l i fe in older women. A t The Chinese University, a Centre o f Research and Promotion o f Women's Health (CRPWH) was set up in January this year to coordinate efforts in this direction. On 20th October, a Resource Centre f o r Wome n 's He a l th was j o i n t l y established by the CRPWH and the Hong Kong Federation of Women to serve as an informational centre for academics, med i c al and a l l i e d h e a l t h w o r k e r s, administrators, students, and the general public on a wide range of topics relating to the health and we l l - be i ng o f women. The centre was made pos s i b le by a generous donation f r om Dr. Ann ie Wong o f the Hong Ko ng F e d e r a t i on o f Wome n. Officiating at the opening ceremony of the centre were Dr. Margaret Chan, director of the Department of Health of the HKSAR, Prof. L i u Pak-wai, acting vice-chancellor, and Dr. Annie Wong. A scientific sympos i um entitled 'Research in Women's Health: f r om Knowledge to Practice' was also held on 21st Oc t ober to address t op i cs r ang i ng f r om r ep r odu c t i ve hea l t h, p o s t n a t al d e p r e s s i o n, s c r e e n i ng practices i n female cancers, we i ght managemen t, to the p h y s i c al and economic consequences o f smoking, mental health in different women sub- populations i n Hong Kong, and the costs and bene f i ts o f i n t e r v e n t i on programmes. Prof. Jennifer L. Kelsey o f the Department of Health Research and Policy of Stanford University gave a k e y no te address on ' E n h a n c i ng Evidence-based Policy and Services in Women's Health'. Symposium Paves Way from Research to Drug Discovery W o r l d - r enowned scientists and experts in the highly competitive held of cell signalling, including a Nobel Laureate, Dr. Ferid Murad, gathered in Hong Kong from 15th to 17th October for the International Symposium of Cell S i gna l l i ng: F r om Diseases to D r ug Discovery, organized by the Epithelial Cell Biology Research Centre. The centre was j o i n t ly established by The Chinese University and the Academy of Military Medical Sciences in Beijing. Officiating at the opening ceremony o f the symposium, which took place in the Shaw College Lecture Theatre, were P r o f . L i u P a k - w a i, a c t i ng v i c e - c h a n c e l l o r , M r . F r a n c i s H o , Comm i s s i oner f or I n n o v a t i on and T e c h n o l o gy o f the H K S A R , and r e p r e s e n t a t i v es f r o m t he Academy o f M i l i t a ry Medical Sciences and the Beijing Science and Technology Commission. Guests of honour included Prof. Ye X i n Sheng, director o f the L i f e Science D i v i s i on o f the N a t i o n a l N a t u r a l Sc i en ce Founda t i on o f Ch i na; Pr o f. Denys Wheatley, editor-in-chief, Cell Biology I n t e r n a t i o n a l ; and Profs. X i ng Y i ng and X i e Jun X i a , v i c e - p r e s i d e n ts o f Z h e n g z h ou U n i v e r s i ty and Qingdao University respectively. As part o f the Beijing-Hong Kong Fo r um on L i f e Sciences series, the s y m p o s i um a i med at p r o m o t i ng exchanges between Hong Kong and the m a i n l a n d a n d e n h a n c i n g t he competitiveness of biotechnology/TCM- related industries. It was supported by the Innovation and Technology Commission of the HKSAR, the Beijing Science and T e c h n o l o g y C o m m i s s i o n , t he International Federation of Cell Biology, and local industries. Over 150 research papers dealing w i th various aspects o f cell signalling w e r e p r e s e n t ed w i t h o v e r 2 00 participants from different parts o f the world and different disciplines in the life sciences.