City University of Hong Kong (CityU) conferred honorary doctoral degrees upon five outstanding persons in recognition of their significant contribution to the well-being of society at the Honorary Awards Ceremony held today (10 November) at the Chan Tai Ho Multi-purpose Hall.

These five outstanding persons are Dr Simon Ip Sik-on, solicitor, Notary Public and former Chairman and Senior Partner of Johnson Stokes & Master, Professor Justin Lin Yifu, World Bank’s Chief Economist and Senior Vice President, Professor Susumu Tonegawa, Nobel Laureate, Professor Wong Chi-huey, President of the Academia Sinica, Taiwan, and Professor Zhang Jie, President of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. (For the biographies of the honorary doctorate holders, please refer to the attached pages.)

The ceremony was presided by Dr Norman Leung Nai-pang, University Pro-Chancellor, and was attended by The Hon Leung Chun-ying, Council Chairman, Mr Raymond Or Ching-fai, Deputy Council Chairman, and Professor Way Kuo, University President.

In his note of thanks, Dr Simon Ip said CityU is the largest of our local universities in terms of student numbers, despite occupying a smaller campus, and has achieved international recognition as a quality institution over the years. “During its relatively short life, it has enjoyed extraordinary growth and remarkable success. There is no doubt in my mind that it will continue to scale new heights,” he added.

Professor Way Kuo reminded the graduates that their chance of becoming a successful professional depended upon how they adapted to the accelerating process of globalisation. “Change has become the only constant in today’s fast-moving world. The way in which trade and industry function will continue to evolve, as will technology and the structure of international markets,” he said. Professor Kuo also encouraged graduates not to resist change but to drive it. “Only by observing trends and anticipating change will you stay one step ahead and enjoy the benefits of continuous self-advancement and sustained success,” he added.

As an institution that always nurtures a diversity of cultures, CityU itself is undergoing a major transformation. “Our campus is set to grow by nearly 60 percent over the next few years, with new buildings and facilities that will be a source of pride to both our university community, and the city as a whole,” Professor Kuo said.

The 2009 Congregation will be held from 10-19 November. This year, CityU produced 9,254 graduates through its provision of quality professional education, comprising 113 doctor of philosophy degrees, 11 professional doctorates, 89 master of philosophy degrees, 1,887 master’s degrees, 196 postgraduate diplomas/certificates, 4,157 bachelor degrees and 393 associate degrees. The Community College of City University conferred 2,408 associate degrees.

Honorary doctorate recipients Professor Tonegawa, Professor Wong and Professor Zhang also presided at three academic activities held at CityU. Professor Wong will host a lecture tomorrow (11 November), titled “Post-translational Glycosylation: Challenges and Opportunities”, which will focus on the development of the synthesis of homogenous glycoproteins and other relevant unique researches used to identify new cancer biomarkers for diagnosis and drug discovery.

Professor Zhang hosted the “World Under Extreme Conditions” lecture yesterday (9 November) to discuss the applications of ultra-intense lasers in science. Professor Tonegawa, with six other prominent scholars from around the world, converged at the “Frontiers in Bioscience: Learning and Memory” conference on 16 June, to shed light on neuroscience advances that could help enhance memory and brain function.

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Biographies of the five honorary doctorate holders

Dr Simon Ip, solicitor, Notary Public and former Chairman and Senior Partner of Johnson Stokes & Master (now Mayer Brown JSM), received an Honorary Doctor of Laws. Dr Ip has been a staunch supporter of legal education in Hong Kong and mainland China in his capacity as Honorary Lecturer in the Department of Professional Legal Education of the University of Hong Kong, Honorary Research Fellow of the Faculty of Law of Tsinghua University and Co-Chairman of the International Advisory Board of the School of Law of CityU. Dr Ip’s tireless contribution to society is also reflected in his membership of the Advisory Committee on Post-retirement Employment of Civil Servants, Exchange Fund Advisory Committee and AIDS Foundation Advisory Board. He is a member of the Board of Stewards of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, President of Hong Kong Equestrian Federation and served as a Legislative Councillor (1991-1995) and was President of the Law Society of Hong Kong (1987-1989).

Professor Justin Lin received an Honorary Doctor of Social Science. Professor Lin is the World Bank’s Chief Economist and Senior Vice President. Among his many public roles in China, Professor Lin has served as a deputy of the National People’s Congress and Vice Chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce. He has also served on several national and international committees, leading groups and councils on development policy, technology and environment, including the United Nations Millennium Project Task Force on Hunger, the Eminent Persons Group of the Asian Development Bank and the National Committee on United States-China Relations. His expertise has earned him many coveted awards, including the highest honour for economists in China, the Sun Yefang Prize, in 1993 and 2001.

Nobel Laureate Professor Susumu Tonegawa received an Honorary Doctor of Science. The 1987 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine earned the award for his discovery of the genetic principle for generation of antibody diversity. Although he won the Nobel Prize for his work in immunology, Professor Tonegawa is a molecular biologist by training who has turned his attention to the molecular and cellular basis of memory formation. He has worked at the Basel Institute for Immunology in Basel, Switzerland, where he performed his landmark immunology experiments. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he founded and directed what is now called the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory. He has been awarded the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize from Columbia University, is a member of the Scientific Board of Governors at The Scripps Research Institute and is currently Director of the RIKEN-MIT Centre for Neural Circuit Genetics at MIT.

Professor Wong Chi-huey received an Honorary Doctor of Science. Professor Wong’s impressive scientific credentials are evident in his ascension to President of the Academia Sinica, Taiwan. He is author or co-author of more than 600 publications, 60 patents and four books, all related to enzyme catalysis and chemical biology. His pioneering work on programmable chemical and enzymatic synthesis of complex carbohydrates has provided a powerful platform to tackle important problems in the immune system, bacterial and viral infections, and cancer metastasis and has demonstrated its significance in drug discovery. Professor Wong is a Member of the US National Academy of Sciences and has claimed many prestigious awards, including this year’s Taiwan National Science Council Science Professional Gold Medal.

Physicist Professor Zhang Jie received an Honorary Doctor of Science. The president of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, an expert in x-ray lasers, high field and laser-plasma physics, was elected as an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in 2003, Member of German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina in 2007 and Fellow of Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) last year. Professor Zhang has claimed a litany of prestigious awards, including the 2007 TWAS Prize in Physics, CAS 2007 Outstanding Science and Technology Achievement Prize and the Chinese State Council’s Natural Sciences Prize in 2006. Before taking helm of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, he was Director General of the Bureau of Basic Sciences, CAS (2003-2006), Deputy Director of the Institute of Physics, CAS (1998-2003), and Director of the Laboratory of Optical Physics, CAS (2003-2009).