Professor Lau Din Cheuk is recognised worldwide as an eminent scholar in Chinese studies and comparative philosophy. He is Professor of Chinese Language and Literature at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, a post he has held since 1980.
Professor Lau was born and educated in Hong Kong. He graduated from the University of Hong Kong with first class honours in Chinese in 1941, and later went to the University of Glasgow to take a master's degree in Philosophy under the Victory Scholarship. While in Glasgow, he won the Lorimer Bursary and Buchanan Prize for the Ordinary Logic Class, the first foreign student ever to win the prize. Afterwards, he joined the London School of Oriental and African Studies as lecturer in Chinese Studies and Chinese Philosophy. He was appointed Reader of Chinese Philosophy by the University of London in 1965, and later Professor of Chinese in 1971. He was the first Chinese to have been appointed to a Chair of Chinese in England.
Professor Lau joined the Chinese University in 1978 as Professor of Chinese Language and Literature, and was Dean of the Faculty of Arts between 1980 and 1983. He was appointed a member of the Universities and Polytechnic Grants Committee in 1988.
Professor Lau's intellectual prowess is reflected in his writings. Among them, his translation of Lao-tzu:Tao Te Ching, Mencius, and Confucius: The Analects have won high critical acclaim.
In recognition of his distinguished contributions to the promotion of Chinese culture, the University has resolved to confer upon him the degree of Doctor of Letters honoris causa.
