Campus Digest

HKBU confers title of President Emeritus on Professor Albert Chan

30 Jun 2015

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At the farewell banquet, Mr Cheng Yan-kee (left) presents a staff identity card bearing the title of President Emeritus to Professor Albert Chan
Colleagues bid farewell to Professor Chan at the on-campus party
Professor Albert Chan, Dr Nancy Chapman, President of the United Board (centre) and Mr Cheng Yan-kee sign an agreement for the donation arrangement

The University announced the conferment of the title of President Emeritus on Professor Albert Chan, President and Vice-Chancellor, on his retirement with effect from 1 July 2015, in recognition of his outstanding achievements for the University in the past five years.

 

Mr Cheng Yan-kee, Chairman of the Council and the Court, said the Council resolved to confer the title upon Professor Chan at its meeting on 16 June 2015. Mr Cheng said that soon after Professor Chan assumed the presidency of HKBU in July 2010, he had formulated the strategic plan, Vision 2020, to chart the University’s development towards the goal of becoming the regional leader in whole person education that delivers academic excellence and innovation.

 

He said: “During his tenure, Professor Chan has steered the University to scale new heights on various fronts. Not only does HKBU continue to excel in academic performance, it has also developed a strong research culture. Notable initiatives towards that cause include the establishment of the Partner State Key Laboratory of Environmental and Biological Analysis and the Jao Tsung-I Academy of Sinology on campus, as well as research outposts in Shenzhen, and Changshu and Haimen in Jiangsu Province on the mainland. On the international front, Professor Chan has helped forge closer collaborations with universities in the UK, Europe and North America.”

 

Mr Cheng said Professor Chan has played an instrumental role in helping the University raise more than HK$900 million, including HK$589 million in the sixth round of the Matching Grant Scheme, since he took the helm at the University. The amount raised is crucial for sustaining the advancement of the University. He said the University looks forward to maintaining a close association with Professor Chan in his new capacity as President Emeritus in the years to come.

 

Meanwhile, Professor Albert Chan also pledged to donate HK$1 million to the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia. The United Board will establish a fund and endeavour to raise a sum to match the donations made by other donors and will contribute the total amount to HKBU to advance the United Board and HKBU’s shared mission of strengthening whole person education, and establish various scholarships as well as conduct exchange programmes.

 

In recognition of Professor Chan’s tremendous contributions to HKBU, the University established the “Albert and Mabel Chan Exchange Scholarship” to support students participating in exchange studies in Mainland or overseas universities. As of today, the Scholarship has already raised nearly HK$9 million.

 

To bid farewell to Professor Chan, the University held a dinner banquet on 26 June in which some 500 Council and Court members, staff, alumni, students, government officials, donors and friends attended. Also, an on-campus farewell party was organised for Professor Chan today.

 

Please click here to view the photo album of the Dinner.