Honorary University Fellows
Dr Aron Harilela is the Chairman and CEO of Harilela Hotels Limited, head of acquisitions for the Harilela Group, and the non-executive Chairman of Burson Marsteller in Hong Kong. He holds a Bachelor’s degree (Honours) in Law and Politics, and a PhD in Political Philosophy, both from the University of Hull, UK, and has written and published several articles on contemporary social political thought.
Dr Harilela served as a member of HKU’s Court (2006-2011) and is an Honorary Patron of the HKU Foundation. The support he and his family have given HKU spans the generations and most recently includes the establishment of an Endowed Professorship in Strategic Information Management in 2014.
Other institutions of higher education that have had the benefit of Dr Harilela’s support and counsel include the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, where he is a Court Member, and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, by which he was conferred an Honorary University Fellowship in 2012. He is also an Honorary Life Vice President of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University Foundation.
Dr Harilela is the Vice-Chairman of the General Committee of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce and was appointed as an Investment Promotion Ambassador for InvestHK in 2011. He is a Board Member of the Hong Kong Community Chest and an Honorary Secretary for the Business and Professional Federation. He is a Voting Member of the Hong Kong Jockey Club and heads the award-winning Harilela polo team.
Dr Harilela was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 2014.
Citation delivered by Mr Douglas SO, Vice-President and Pro-Vice-Chancellor
Allow me to begin this citation with a question: What’s in a name?
The given name Aron is quite a popular one, and can be found in different variations worldwide, from the Americas to Scandinavia and through to the Middle East. It is most often regarded as a Hebrew derivation meaning “high mountain” or “exalted.”
Whether justifiable or not, being the only son of any family comes with a certain set of cultural expectations, in most societies, even more so.
So – Aron the “exalted,” combined with a family name like Harilela – that’s a lot to live up to!
But Dr Aron Harilela has, as we shall see, more than exceeded these expectations.
Dr Harilela holds a Bachelor’s degree (Honours) in Law and Politics, and a PhD in Political Philosophy, both from the University of Hull, UK, and has written and published several articles on contemporary social political thought.
Professionally, Dr Harilela is the Chairman and CEO of Harilela Hotels Limited, with responsibility for overseeing operations in hotels within South East Asia and Europe. He is also in charge of acquisitions for the Harilela Group. He joined the group at their London office in 1994 and subsequently joined the Hong Kong headquarters in 1996. Dr Harilela is also the non-executive Chairman for Burson Marsteller in Hong Kong.
This University has a long and treasured relationship with him too.
Dr Harilela served as a member of HKU’s Court (2006-2011) and is an Honorary Patron of the HKU Foundation.
The support he and his family have given HKU spans the generations and most recently includes the establishment of an Endowed Professorship in Strategic Information Management in 2014.
Other institutions of higher education that have had the benefit of Dr Harilela’s support and counsel include the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, where he is a Court Member.
He was conferred an Honorary University Fellowship by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2012. He is also an Honorary Life Vice-President of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University Foundation.
Dr Harilela is the Vice-Chairman of the General Committee of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce and was appointed as an Investment Promotion Ambassador for InvestHK in 2011. He is a Board Member of the Hong Kong Community Chest, an Honorary Secretary for the Business and Professional Federation and a Voting Member of the Hong Kong Jockey Club.
Dr Harilela was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 2014.
Despite a tight schedule to meet his business, professional and social commitments, Dr Harilela manages to find time to devote to recreational activities. He modestly claims to play a fair game of tennis, is proficient at horseback riding and heads the Harilela team in polo – a game he loves and at which he has won several trophies.
It is safe to say that from this day on, he will be HKU’s only trophy-bearing, polo-playing University Fellow!
The phrase noblesse oblige is considered somewhat out-of-date nowadays. But if we were to simply rephrase it as “with great privilege, comes great responsibility”, then I believe this is a duty that Dr Harilela has discharged with admirable distinction.
It gives me great pleasure, Mr Pro-Chancellor, to present Dr Aron Harilela for the Honorary University Fellowship, in recognition of his invaluable contributions to Hong Kong and the academia.