Mr Horace Kadoorie is well-known in business circles both locally and overseas, and apart from his contribution through business undertakings to the prosperity of Hong Kong, has devoted much time and effort to charitable and social work in Hong Kong as well as abroad. He is a member of the Rural Development Committee and together with his brother, Sir Lawrence Kadoorie, himself an honorary graduate of the University, he established in 1951 the Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Association to help the poorest members of the rural population of Hong Kong through gifts of materials for the building of roads, bridges, dams, wells, orchards, fish-ponds, etc, and subsidised grants of livestock and farm buildings. The efforts of the Association during the past three decades have enabled many villagers to become self-supporting farmers, and provided education in the latest methods of breeding of poultry and farm animals.
For his public service Mr Kadoorie was made Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur in 1939, given the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service "for practical philanthropy to promote rural welfare" in 1962, created Officier de l'Ordre de Leopold in 1966, and made Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1976.
In recognition of his pioneer work in assisting farmers and for his far-sighted and practical humanitarianism, the University has resolved to confer upon him the degree of Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa.
