The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) will be conferring honorary doctorates on five eminent academics and leaders in recognition of their outstanding contributions and achievements. Dr SY Chung, Pro-Chancellor of HKUST, will officiate at the conferment ceremony on 12 November 2010 (Friday) at HKUST’s 18th Congregation.
The five recipients are:
- Mr Ronald ARCULLI – Doctor of Laws honoris causa
- Prof John HOPCROFT – Doctor of Engineering honoris causa
- Mr LO Ka Chung – Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa
- Prof Raj REDDY – Doctor of Engineering honoris causa
- Prof Jonathan SPENCE – Doctor of Humanities honoris causa
Brief biography of the recipients
The Hon Ronald Joseph ARCULLI
Mr Arculli has made great contributions to Hong Kong in serving the public. Since 2006, he has been Chairman of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited. Previous to this, from 2002 to 2006, he was Chairman of the Hong Kong Jockey Club – a major philanthropic organization of which HKUST is a notable beneficiary. He had served the Legislative Council as an appointed member before the Handover, and an elected member after 1997. Since 2005, he has been a member of the Executive Council. Mr Arculli is now a senior partner of the Hong Kong practice of King and Wood, one of China’s largest law firms.
Prof John E HOPCROFT
Prof Hopcroft is currently professor of computer science at Cornell University. As a pioneering theoretical computer scientist, his writings on the theory of computation and data structures are regarded as standards in these fields. In 1986, he was jointly awarded with another scientist the Turing Award, which is known as the “Nobel Prize of Computing”. This award was bestowed to honor his fundamental achievements in the design and analysis of algorithms and data structures.
Mr LO Ka Chung
Mr Lo is the Chairman of Foo Hang Jewellery Ltd. As one of Hong Kong’s first global traders in diamond, he proposed to establish the Diamond Importers Association, which later merged with the Hong Kong Diamond Bourse to form the Diamond Federation of Hong Kong. With his donations focusing on educational and medical causes, he underwrote the construction of the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals’ Lo Kon Ting Memorial College in remembrance of his late father, and the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Lo Ka Chow Memorial Ophthalmic Centre as a tribute to his younger brother. Mr Lo himself made a generous donation to support the setting up of the Lo Ka Chung University Center at HKUST in 2004, and the building to be constructed for the Institute for Advanced Study at HKUST.
Prof Raj REDDY
Prof Reddy is currently professor of Computer Science and Robotics at Carnegie Mellon University which he has served for over 40 years. Under his leadership, his research team has developed large vocabulary-connected speech recognition systems. He also established a universal digital library, making creative works and human knowledge accessible anytime and anywhere. He was President of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence from 1987 to 1989, and was the recipient of the 1994 Turing Award – the highest honor for a computer scientist.
Prof Jonathan D SPENCE
Prof Spence, Professor Emeritus of Yale University, is a world authority on the history of modern China. Author of the famous book The Search for Modern China, Prof Spence is the first scholar in the West to use secret imperial court memorials in the study of the Qing dynasty. His contributions to the historical understanding of China are much honored by the world, and he was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George by the Queen of England. China is now the focus of the world, and Prof Spence has provided an insightful and balanced view of Chinese history which significantly contributes to the discipline. He is also a visiting professor at Peking University and an honorary professor at Nanjing University.
For media enquiries, please feel free to contact :
Ross Lai
Tel: 2358 6306 / 9103 2928
Email: rosslai@ust.hk
Donna Wong
Tel: 2358 6317
Email: donnaw@ust.hk
