Publicly-funded universities can be rather modest about promoting themselves. So when HKU’s President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Peter Mathieson, announced in December, 2014 that Mr Douglas So, the new Vice-President and Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Institutional Advancement, would be steering a branding and public relations campaign, he felt an explanation was due.

 

“I do not consider it undignified for HKU to undertake such activities, I consider it essential,” Professor Mathieson said. “We have to move on, to accelerate, to run to keep up with our competitors. We must guard against complacency: just because we are a hundred years old and have a very distinguished track record, this is not enough to ensure our future success.”

 

Mr So could not agree more. “We cannot simply say that what we do is good for Hong Kong and we are the best. Now in everything, we have to look not just inward but also outward. Universities in the United States and United Kingdom are doing very well in institutional advancement and developmental matters. There is so much we can learn from them.”

 

Mr So understands intrinsically the benefits to be had by not resting on one’s laurels. More than once in his career, he has followed exceptional success with a sharp change in direction because, he said, “I want to learn something new.”

Seeking new challenges

 

He graduated from HKU with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) in 1990 and Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (PCLL) in 1991, and worked first with the international law firm, Baker and Mackenzie, where in 2000 he arranged the Initial Public Offering (IPO) for PetroChina. After that success, he was keen to do something new so he accepted an offer from the Hong Kong Jockey Club to be its in-house counsel.

 

This led to him being appointed Executive Director of the Jockey Club’s charities portfolio in 2010, which was a major departure from legal work. “I had to leave my comfort zone, learn many new things from scratch and get to know important players in different sectors. It turned out to be a great opportunity because it meant I could work with government, charities and community partners, bringing positive changes to Hong Kong,” he said.

 

Under his leadership, the portfolio – one of the largest in the world – expanded from 95 projects and HK$1.3 billion in donations per year to 168 projects and HK$3.6 billion. But as with the PetroChina deal, success created an itch in Mr So.

 

“I had been at the Jockey Club for more than 14 years. I had to decide whether to extend my
contract – and if I stayed I probably wouldn’t make major changes – or embark on a new path and take on new challenges. I also was considering whether to continue to be involved in such a broad portfolio [the Jockey Club funds a huge variety of projects] or to concentrate on one to two areas and go deeper.”

 

He decided to take the plunge and leave the Jockey Club. Initially, he fulfilled a long-held dream and set up Hong Kong’s first photographic museum, F11 (www.f11.com), which opened in a heritage building in Happy Valley in September, 2014. Then he received a call that took him in yet another direction.

On his first week as Vice-President and Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Institutional Advancement, Mr Douglas So (third from right in the first row) joined the senior management team and Deans of 10 Faculties at the Spring Reception for

the media.

Giving back to his alma mater

 

HKU wanted him to lead institutional advancement with a remit that incorporated not only fund-raising and alumni outreach but also brand-building.

 

“It was a very attractive option for me because, first, HKU is my alma mater. Second, these opportunities do not come by easily and I was deeply honoured that they approached me as a non-academic for a Pro-Vice-Chancellor position. And third, I think this is an important area for HKU’s future development,” he said.

 

Mr So will be building relations within and outside HKU to bring a sharper focus to the University’s strengths and contributions, and promote HKU and its brand. He is particularly interested in identifying meaningful and touching stories about the HKU family and sharing them in different contexts to help imprint them in the community.

 

He is now at work building a branding team that will consult Faculties to identify their achievements and the best ways to communicate them. Alumni will also be asked to share their success stories and participate in the branding campaign. Mr So believes everyone in the HKU family can contribute in a meaningful way.

 

“Branding is a collective effort to demonstrate that HKU is a great tertiary institution that has been making positive contributions to our community for more than a century. We need the support of everyone, including our 10 Faculties, staff, students, alumni, donors and community partners. Hopefully, we as a team can share this vision and continue to support HKU in our own ways,”
he said.

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