Bulletin No. 2, 2018

The 85th and 86th Congregations 25 Professor the Honourable Yam Chi-kwong Joseph was the first Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. He is currently a non-official member of the Executive Council, HKSAR and Executive Vice-President of the China Society for Finance and Banking. He helped develop the linked exchange rate system and implemented other reform measures, contributing to Hong Kong’s development into an international financial centre. During the Asian financial turmoil in 1998, Professor Yam successfully defeated international speculators and defended Hong Kong’s currency and stocks. He was named the ‘Central Bank Governor of the Year’ in 1998 by Asiamoney. Professor Yam has been especially close to CUHK, where he has served as an Honorary Professor of the Faculty of Business Administration since 2006, and a Distinguished Research Fellow of the Lau Chor Tak Institute of Global Economics and Finance since 2010. The University conferred upon Professor Yam the degree of Doctor of Social Science, honoris causa , in recognition of his contribution to Hong Kong’s monetary and financial development. Prof. Qiu Yong is an expert on optoelectronic materials and devices and currently the President of Tsinghua University. His main research interests focus on organic semiconductors, fundamental theories of organic electronics, and organic light-emitting materials and devices. He has won countless accolades for his scientific innovations, including Distinguished Young Scholar by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Ministry of Education Changjiang Scholar, the National Model Teacher, the State Technological Invention Award, and has been elected a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Since he took the helm of Tsinghua University, Professor Qiu has enhanced the bilateral exchange and academic collaboration with CUHK across a number of fields, including the opening of the Joint Research Centre for Chinese Economy. In 2017, CUHK appointed him to be Honorary Professor of the Faculty of Science. CUHK conferred upon Professor Qiu the degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa in recognition of his exceptional contributions to academia and society. Dr. Ip Sik-on Simon was the former President of the Law Society of Hong Kong and a member of the Legislative Council representing the Legal Functional Constituency. He served as the Founding Chairman of the Council of the Hong Kong Institute of Education from 1994 to 2003. Dr. Ip demonstrated his charitable endeavours through his work with the Hong Kong Jockey Club, where he served as the Chairman from 2014 to 2018. Under his leadership, the Club’s Charities Trust adopted a more proactive approach to its role in the betterment of society. CUHK has also been a major beneficiary of the Club, with donations including the $1.3 billion gifted in 2014 to support the establishment of the University’s new teaching hospital, the CUHK Medical Centre. CUHK conferred upon Dr. Ip the degree of Doctor of Social Science, honoris causa for his outstanding contribution to and leadership in the Hong Kong community.