Honorary University Fellows
Excerpt from the Vice-Chancellor's Address delivered at the Honorary University Fellowships Presentation Ceremony on December 2, 1999:
Dr Simon Kwan Sin Ming Architect, designer, painter, connoisseur, collector, scholar, teacher- these names can only begin to give an idea of the range of activities and talents of Dr Simon Kwan Sin Ming. Born in Hong Kong in 1941, Dr Kwan studied Architecture and then Fine Arts in our University and was awarded a Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1967 and a Ph.D. in 1989.
After qualifying as an architect Dr Kwan practised architecture in Hong Kong, working in private firms and for the Government. In 1973 he started his own practice, Simon Kwan & Associates Ltd. Currently his company has a staff of over 100, working on projects in Hong Kong and on the Mainland. Some building which have become well known landmarks were designed by Dr Kwan. These include the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts, the Hong Kong Productivity Council, Caroline Centre, the Hong Kong Industrial Technology Centre, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the Centre for Environmental Technology, the Wong Chuk Hang Complex for the Elderly, the K.Wah Centre, Healthy Village, Kowloon Park and most recently, the Hong Kong Science Park. He has also designed many prestigious residential projects.
Dr Kwan has won wide recognition as an architect: he was elected by the Hong Kong Artists' Guild as Architect of the Year in 1989, and was awarded Certificates of Merit by the Hong Kong Institute of Architects for the design of the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts in 1985, the Tuen Mun Technical Institute in 1989, the Hong Kong Industrial Technology Centre in 1996 and the Centre for Environmental Technology in 1997. In addition the Chinese Academy of Arts in Beijing awarded his design for the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology the "Artistic Creativity Award".
Dr Kwan's love of beauty extends beyond architecture. He is also a painter and a dedicated researcher and scholar in the field of Chinese art and design. He has written many papers and delivered many lectures on Chinese art at universities and institutions in Hong Kong and abroad. He has published five books on Chinese ceramics, ivory and jade. He is currently working on a new book entitled Bamboo Carvings of the Ming & Ching Dynasties, which will be published by our own University Museum and Art Gallery in April 2000.
He has also generously used his expertise to serve the community: he is currently Chairman of the Advisory Committee of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Center for the Arts, Committee Member of the Art Gallery of the Chinese University of Hong Kong; Member of the Hong Kong University Court; Member of the Antiquities Advisory Board and Adviser to the Hong Kong Museum of Art. It is only right and fitting that we should acknowledge the talents and contributions of our alumnus, Dr Simon Kwan, by the award of an Honorary Fellowship.