HKU Bulletin May 2015 (Vol. 16 No.2)

Six Prominent HKU Academics Honoured with Croucher Awards HKU Celebrates Excellence in Teaching, Research and Knowledge Exchange The Croucher Foundation honoured ten academics from four universities with Croucher Innovation Awards, Croucher Senior Research Fellowships and Croucher Senior Medical Research Fellowships to recognise their exceptional scientific research achievements. A presentation ceremony officiated by the Honourable Mr John Tsang Chun-wah, Financial Secretary of the HKSAR Government, was held on April 14 in which all guests observed a moment of silence in memory of Dr Rayson Huang, former HKU Vice-Chancellor and founding member and life Trustee of the Croucher Foundation, who passed away on April 8. Of the ten awardees who were honoured for their accomplishments, six were scholars from HKU. Dr Stephanie Ma Kwai-yee from the Department of Anatomy and Dr Zhang Shizhong from the Department of Physics received Croucher Innovation Awards. Dr Benjamin John Cowling from the School of Public Health and Professor Zhou Zhongjun The University held its annual Award Presentation Ceremony for Excellence in Teaching, Research and Knowledge Exchange in Loke Yew Hall on March 30 to honour the outstanding achievements of close to 100 academics. The Ceremony, attended by over 400 guests, was presided over by President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Mathieson and Dr the Honourable Sir David Li Kwok- po was the Guest of Honour. In his opening speech, Professor Mathieson said: “The award scheme was set up and expanded precisely to give due recognition to the many otherwise unsung heroes that help HKU thrive and flourish. So, to all the awardees, thank you for your invaluable contributions to HKU. You are the ones who have brought the University to the next level of excellence.” from the Department of Biochemistry were awarded Croucher Senior Research Fellowships, and Professor Khoo Ui-soon from the Department of Pathology and Professor Patrick Woo Chiu-yat from the Department of Microbiology were presented with Croucher Senior Medical Research Fellowships. The Croucher Innovation Awards were established in 2012 for supporting promising At the Ceremony, the teaching philosophies and research achievements of individual awardees were presented in the form of tailor-made videos. The awards presented included, inter alia , the Outstanding Teaching Award, Outstanding Researcher Award, Outstanding Young Researcher Award, Outstanding Research Student Supervisor scholars working in the natural sciences, technology and medicine to further pursue their own professional inclinations, to advance their expertise and to contribute to the development of education and research in Hong Kong. Introduced in 1997, the Croucher Senior Research Fellowships are awarded to local academics who have excelled in scientific research work as judged by leading international scientists. Award, Faculty Teaching Awards, Research Output Prize and Knowledge Exchange Award. For the list of awardees and more about the Award Presentation Ceremony, please go to http://www.hku.hk/award From left: Dr Zhang Shizhong, Professor Zhou Zhongjun, Dr Stephanie Ma Kwai-yee, Dr Benjamin John Cowling, Professor Patrick Woo Chiu-yat and Professor Khoo Ui-soon. HKU Outstanding AcademicsWinWorldwide Accolades Six remarkable HKU scholars have recently been awarded with prestigious honours for their achievements in their own disciplines. Professor Frederick Leung from the Faculty of Education and Professor Zhou Zheng from the School of Business have been appointed Changjiang Scholars 2013–2014 by the Ministry of Education in Mainland China. Changjiang Scholars are in the top tier of China’s ‘High-level Creative Talents Plan’ which aims to recruit talented academics, establishing masters in their respective academic disciplines in order to promote development of those disciplines to the highest international level. Professor Leung is also the first ever Changjiang Scholar named in the field of Mathematics Education. Professor Zhao Guochun and his team with members including Professor Sun Min, both from the Department of Earth Sciences, were presented with the second-class State Natural Science Awards 2014 for his research on ‘Paleoproterozoic amalgamation of the North China Craton and the assembly of the Columbia supercontinent’ which has led to significant scientific achievements highlighted by more than 200 scientific papers. The State Natural Science Award is China’s most prestigious award in natural science and Professor Zhao’s team was among two Hong Kong teams who have won the Award this year. In recognition of his outstanding scholarship in the field of international affairs, Professor Xu Guoqi from the Department of History was awarded the prestigious Shigemitsu Fellowship by the Japan Society of Boston. The Fellowship was recently established by the Global Culture Center of the Japan Society of Boston for encouraging new research and scholarship in the field of international affairs. Being one of the world’s most eminent scholars in the fields of modern Chinese and international history, Professor Xu is currently working on a trilogy of shared history. For his latest publication, please refer to the ‘Books’ column on p48–49. Professor Angela Leung, Joseph Needham – Philip Mao Professor in Chinese History, Science and Civilization, from the School of Humanities received the Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes académiques from the French Ministry of National Education (Higher Education and Research) for her academic achievements and contributions to French culture. An official bestowal ceremony, chaired by the French Consul General in Hong Kong, Mr Arnaud Barthélémy, took place at the Residence of the French Consulate in Hong Kong on April 1. Professor Vivian Yam, Philip Wong Wilson Wong Professor in Chemistry and Energy, from the Department of Chemistry, has been presented with the Ludwig Mond Award 2015 from the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) in the United Kingdom. Professor Yam was awarded for her work on the innovative design of new strategies utilising non-covalent metal-metal interactions as spectroscopic reporters for host-guest interactions and microenvironment changes, and for chemosensing and biological assays and she will be invited to give lectures at universities in the United Kingdom. It is the second time Professor Yam has been honoured by the RSC – she was awarded the Centenary Lectureship and Medal (now renamed as the RSC Centenary Prize) by the RSC in 2005–2006. Professor Frederick Leung is the first ever Changjiang Scholar named in the field of Mathematics Education. Professor Zhou Zheng has been appointed a Changjiang Scholar 2013–2014. Professor Zhao Guochun (centre) and Professor Sun Min (right) receiving the second-class State Natural Science Awards 2014. Professor Xu Guoqi is one of the first recipients of the Shigemitsu Fellowship. Professor Angela Leung (left) receiving the Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes académiques from Mr Arnaud Barthélémy, French Consul General in Hong Kong. After being recognised by the Royal Society of Chemistry a decade ago, Professor Vivian Yam has now been honoured with the Ludwig Mond Award 2015. 02 | 03 The University of Hong Kong Bulletin | May 2015 News in Brief