Honorary University Fellows

Mr Philip Bing Lun Lam was appointed HKU Director of Finance in 1990 and served in this capacity until his retirement in June 2012. He is currently the Senior Advisor to the Vice-Chancellor on financial, investment and fundraising matters of the University.

Mr Lam holds a Diploma in Management Studies from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants of the UK, and an Associate of a number of professional institutes, including the Chartered Management Accountants of Canada, the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the UK Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, and the UK Chartered Institute of Bankers.

He has been a board member of all university subsidiary companies and responsible for their corporate governance.  In particular, he was actively involved in the Management Board of HKU SPACE as a representative of the University. In 1999, he was appointed Company Secretary and Secretary of the Disbursement Committee of the HKU Foundation.

Mr Lam has been a council member of the local Chartered Institute of Management Accountants branch when it was first set up in Hong Kong, a member of the Board of Review of the Inland Revenue Department and a member of the Establishment and Finance Committee of the Prince Philip Dental Hospital. Currently, he is also a member of the Finance and Administration Committee, and the Board of Governors and the Investment Committee of the Canadian International School of Hong Kong.

Citation delivered by Dr Paul Man Yiu CHOW, University Treasurer

Mr Philip Lam Bing Lun was appointed HKU Director of Finance in 1990 and served in this capacity until his retirement in June 2012. He is currently the Senior Advisor to the Vice-Chancellor on financial, investment and fund- raising matters of the University.

Philip holds a Diploma in Management Studies from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants of the UK, and an Associate of a number of professional institutes, including the Chartered Management Accountants of Canada, the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the UK Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, and the UK Chartered Institute of Bankers.

He has been a board member of all university subsidiary companies and responsible for their corporate governance. In particular, he was actively involved in the Management Board of HKU SPACE as a representative of the University. In 1999, he was appointed Company Secretary and Secretary of the Disbursement Committee of the HKU Foundation.

Philip has been a council member of the local Chartered Institute of Management Accountants branch when it was first set up in Hong Kong, a member of the Board of Review of the Inland Revenue Department and a member of the Establishment and Finance Committee of the Prince Philip Dental Hospital. Currently, he is also a member of the Finance & Administration Committee, and the Board of Governors and the Investment Committee of the Canadian International School of Hong Kong.

Being Director of Finance in any given organisation is not easy. And it is especially so for HKU’s Director of Finance.

Some may think HKU has plenty of resources. Some may even call it ‘rich’.

But as Treasurer of the University, I can tell you that the University has for a long time been operating in a resource- constrained environment. However, the HKU community has vision and determination, and wants to grow and become a great university on many different levels.

The result of combining these two factors is a very tall order indeed, and a formidable challenge to the Director of Finance.

As the University’s Director of Finance, Philip has been constantly under immense pressure from many sides for competing requests, most of which are very worthwhile.

Philip has to balance the interests of many stakeholders, internally and externally, with tact and sophistication.

Over the years, he has charted a steady financial course for HKU and steered it cautiously through many uncertain economic times, and the University is most grateful for his leadership in this regard.

Of course, there will also be those who have found him pedantic in his insistence on procedure and regulations. But it is precisely because of Philip’s personal discipline that fairness and due processes have been ensured in the management of the University’s finances.

Those who have worked with him, however, regard him with respect, and praise him for treating his colleagues like family: he sees them as individuals with talent that he tries to nurture, but he also has very high expectations of them.

But perhaps one of the most revealing insights about Philip is that, as Director of Finance, year in, year out, when the time comes for the Finance Office’s annual dinner … Philip always arrives as 財神, the God of Wealth.

Apparently, Philip likes arriving as財神. Not symbolically or figuratively either. He comes literally dressed as財神 in full regalia – headgear, costume, and the most important point is that he is there to hand out 利是, or lucky money, to the people he thinks of as his family!

It gives me great pleasure, Mr Pro Chancellor, to present Mr Philip Lam Bing Lun for the Honorary University Fellowship, in recognition of his contributions to Hong Kong and academia.