Professor William Ian Rees Davies is an Emeritus Professor of HKU and was one of the pioneers who established Hong Kong's first and only Faculty of Dentistry at HKU.
From 1983 to 1989, Professor Davies served as Dean of the Faculty and Director of Prince Philip Dental Hospital concurrently. He was the University's Pro-Vice-Chancellor from 1991 to 2000, for the last two years of which he was in addition the Registrar, and served the University as Vice-Chancellor from 2000 to 2002. Under his leadership, HKU responded vigorously to the globalisation of tertiary education, accepting more international students, extending the number and scale of collaborative research projects, and strengthening its links with established universities in Mainland China and internationally.
Professor Davies is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, the College of Dental Surgeons of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine. He was appointed Justice of Peace in 1991 and awarded a Silver Bauhinia Star in 2003.
In recognition of his contributions to academia and to the dental profession in Hong Kong, the University has resolved to confer upon him the degree of Doctor of Science honoris causa.
