Honorary University Fellows

Excerpt from the Vice-Chancellor's Address delivered at the Honorary University Fellowships Presentation Ceremony on December 2, 1999:

Ms Man's association with Hong Kong University goes back to a time before her birth- her father, no stranger to many of us, is an alumnus who is truly devoted to his alma mater. And this devotion is shared by Ms Man.

Ms Man graduated from our University with an honour degree in Economics and gained prominence in the field of marketing and communications. After working as General Manager of a full-service advertising agency specializing in consumer electronics, luxury goods and services she joined Philips Hong Kong Ltd as Marketing Communications Manager. This was followed by a position as Marketing Manager of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, where she directed a worldwide corporate identity name-change programme. Later she became Vice President, Area Marketing Manager, Consumer Banking Group of Chase Manhattan Bank North America and was responsible for establishing the Group's marketing operations and communications programmes in various countries in Asia.

Having made her mark in the corporate world she set up in 1988 her own marketing and communications company called Irene Man & Associates. Supported by a team of seasoned marketing professionals, she achieved success not only in Hong Kong but in the whole Asian region; her clients included Cable and Wireless HKT, the Shun Hing Group, many other multi-national companies and US banks. Ms Man was extremely active in advertising and public relations circles in Hong Kong. Keen to raise professional standards she devised training courses for employees of many large banks and organizations and was highly successful. Ms Man has published several books on travel, career development, marketing and communications. She is now "retired" and based in London.

We are proud of Ms Man's professional achievements, and prouder still of her unfailing loyalty to the University and her enthusiasm for alumni networking. While working in Hong Kong she took time from her busy schedule to serve as President of the HKU Alumni Association, Hong Kong. She also served on the Committee on the Ninth Decade & Beyond and helped organize the 80th Anniversary Celebrations, in particular the Grand Finale, Expo 2001, which attracted an audience of around 200,000. Though she now spends a great deal of time travelling, diving and skiing, she is still keenly interested in alumni networking. She makes it a point to attend meetings of alumni chapters, in Vancouver or Toronto or Los Angeles. She has also become President of the HKU Alumni Association, the United Kingdom, which was formally established in June this year, adding its eleventh overseas chapter to the alumni network.

The Chinese consider filial piety to be a virtue of the first rank, Ms Man is certainly a filial daughter to her alma mater.