The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) today (24 June) conferred Honorary Fellowships on four distinguished leaders in recognition of their contributions. Dr the Honorable Sir Sze-Yuen Chung, Pro-Chancellor, Dr the Honorable Marvin Cheung, Council Chairman, and Prof Tony F Chan, President, of HKUST officiated at the conferment ceremony. The recipients of the 2011 Honorary Fellowships are: Dr Fong Yun-Wah, Prof Roger King, Ir James Kwan, and Prof Harry Shum. Their brief biographies are set out below:
Dr Fong Yun-Wah, Chairman of the Hip Shing Hong Group, has been honored world-wide for his many contributions to education, healthcare, medical research and other causes for many years. On the Mainland he has funded the establishment of dozens of schools and computer centers, including in remote areas of China's Northwestern region. Locally, every level of education has benefited from his generosity. A faithful friend of HKUST, he has been supporting its infrastructural construction, student scholarships, a multi-year pledge for internship and the replica of the Armillary Sphere for the students' scientific education. For his many good deeds he has been awarded the Hong Kong SAR's Silver Bauhinia Star. His strong desire is to see and support the emergence of a world-leading university in the Greater China region.
Prof Roger King, Non-Executive Director of Overseas Orient International Limited and Adjunct Professor in Finance at HKUST, is a successful entrepreneur and renowned 'corporate doctor'. He parlays his extensive and intimate business knowledge from the boardrooms of international corporations into effective training of his students and future business leaders. A pro-bono Director of HKUST's Center for Asian Family Business and Entrepreneurship Studies and Center for Business Case Studies, he is working hard to build up Asian case studies so that Harvard will not enjoy a virtual monopoly in case studies for Asian businesses.
Ir James Kwan, Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of Hong Kong and China Gas Ltd, better known as Towngas, has done much to provide safe and affordable gas to 1.7 million households in Hong Kong and 12 million more on the Mainland. An internationally respected professional engineer, he is credited with developing innovations such as 'trenchless technology' to minimize road disruptions, and is the first Chinese elected to be President of the UK-based Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers in 2000/01. For his many contributions to the engineering profession, he was inducted into the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers Hall of Fame in 2010. Under his leadership, Towngas is the winner of the Grand Award of the Pearl River Delta Environmental Awards.
Prof Harry Shum, a much-honored Corporate Vice President of Bing Development at Microsoft, is also Adjunct Professor at HKUST's Department of Computer Science and Engineering. He was formerly Managing Director of Microsoft Research Asia, said to be the 'world's hottest computer lab'. At the nerve center of the Bing project, Prof Shum is behind the radical idea of a paradigm shift in turning search engines, which have not fundamentally changed in the past 12 year, into decision engines capable of understanding user intent, not just user query. They read concepts and meaning, rather than keywords. The distinctive advantage of Prof Shum and his team is their 'willingness to innovate'. He was the 2011 recipient of the Asian-American Executive of the Year Award.
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Kit Yip
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