Honorary University Fellows

Citation for Professor Samuel Chan delivered by Dr Frederick Leung, Dean of the Faculty of Science at the Honorary University Fellowships Presentation Ceremony on December 12, 2000:

It could be said that Professor Samuel Chan has dedicated his entire working life to the University of Hong Kong. He joined the University as an undergraduate 1961, since then he has had a long and productive career both in academic research and in university administration.

In 1969 he became a lecturer in Zoology, this was followed by a senior-lectureship in 1970 and personal professorship in 1984. He gained international fame in his early research on natural sex reversal and was invited to report his work at the Royal Society of London in 1970. He joined the world\'s first "test-tube baby" group, Edwards and Steptoe, at Cambridge in 1973, and after his return to Hong Kong, helped the establishment of the IVF programme at Queen Mary Hospital. He pioneered the production of transgenic animals in Hong Kong, the forefront biotechnology with wide applications in medical research and pharmaceutical industry.

Professor Chan is a Scientific Fellow of the Zoological Society of London, a Fellow of Institute of Biology, and a Chartered Biologist for the United Kingdom. He has served many professional societies and Government advisory committees including, to name a few, Vice-President of the Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology, he is a Council member of many local and international societies, and Chairmen of the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship scheme, and the Government Advisory Committee on Animal Welfare. He has also served as Hong Kong representative in the Asia Pacific Higher Education Network and the University Mobility for the Asia Pacific.

Professor Chan has been actively involved in university administration since the late 1980s, when he became Senate elected member to Council and chaired a number of Council and Senate working parties. From 1993 to 1998, he served as Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic) during which his achievements were very highly regarded. He masterminded several major institutional reforms including the new “One-line Budget” funding model for the University, a more modern undergraduate curriculum, and a review of the Teaching and Learning Quality Process. He was also instrumental in re-engineering a number of university units including the School of Professional and Continuing Education, the University Health Service, and the University’s Catering Service.

His efforts in enhancing the university’s image, both at home and overseas have been equally admirable. Throughout his career Professor Chan has displayed a worthy spirit of dedication to the University of Hong Kong and to the wider community which has benefited from his contributions. It gives me very great pleasure, Mr Pro- Chancellor, to present Professor Samuel Chan for the Honorary University Fellowship.