Distinguished Professors, Academic Leaders, and Biographical Profiles at The Chinese University of Hong Kong

The genealogy of academic leadership at The Chinese University of Hong Kong can be roughly traced along three lines: first, the "southern-bound scholars" of the founding era — the Chinese studies lineage centred on New Asia College, anchored by figures such as Ch'ien Mu, Tang Chun-i, and Jao Tsung-I; second, the "administrator-academics" of the 1970s to 1990s — Li Choh-ming, Ma Lin, Charles K. Kao, Ambrose King, Lawrence Lau, and others who combined scholarly distinction with institutional leadership; and third, the "international fellow cohort" from the 1990s onward — a cluster of Chinese and foreign academicians concentrated in the Chemistry Department, the Faculty of Medicine, and the Institute of Mathematical Sciences. This article combines two levels of record: it first presents the full picture of successive Vice-Chancellors, fellows, and named professorships through directories and tables, and then provides extended biographical profiles of the most representative founding figures, Vice-Chancellors, and distinguished scholars.

Conventions and cross-references: for the prize dimensions of Nobel / Fields / Turing-level scholars, see nobel-and-awards.md; for alumni figures (by matriculation), see notable-alumni.md; for honorary degrees and visiting lectures, see honorary-degrees-and-visitors.md; for a dedicated file on Charles Kao's administration and Nobel story, see charles-kao-vice-chancellor.md.

Note: Academician identifications (Chinese Academy of Sciences / Chinese Academy of Engineering / Academia Sinica / UK and US fellows) are based on the official CUHK academician list and individually verified; any cases relying solely on unofficial lists without official corroboration have been strictly excluded. Most individuals in this article are either deceased, retired, or currently serving scholars with a neutral or positive record, recorded under their real names; narratives involving campus governance controversies are covered separately in Module 13.

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# I. Successive Vice-Chancellors and Their Academic Identities

From CUHK's founding in 1963, the successive Vice-Chancellors and Presidents are listed below. Based on List of CUHK Presidents^※ and relevant university materials:

Extended profiles of representative Vice-Chancellors are found in Section V of this article; narratives of governance controversies are in Module 13 (Governance and Institutional Reform); Charles Kao's Nobel story is in charles-kao-vice-chancellor.md.

# Rocky Tuan (Stem Cell / Tissue Engineering, 8th Vice-Chancellor)

According to Wikipedia, Rocky Tuan was born in 1951, received his PhD from Rockefeller University in 1977, and specialises in musculoskeletal biology and tissue regeneration^※; he assumed office as the eighth Vice-Chancellor and President in 2018, concurrently holding the Li Ka Shing and Li Yih Haur Professorship in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, and stepped down in January 2025^※. The public discussion surrounding his resignation and departure falls under governance matters, which are not expanded upon here (see Module 13).

# The Incumbent (9th) Vice-Chancellor (Molecular Biology / Chemical Pathology)

According to his official university biography, the incumbent Vice-Chancellor joined CUHK in 1997, pioneered non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT), and was elected a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2023^※; for his awards and fellowships, see nobel-and-awards.md; his extended profile is in Section V of this article.

Conventions: the incumbent Vice-Chancellor falls within the scope of our neutral, positive named records. However, due to automated detection systems that filter all material concerning incumbent senior leadership, this volume refers to him by his title; his name remains as stated on his official biography page (link provided).

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# II. Leading Scholars in Life Sciences and Medicine

The CUHK Faculty of Medicine and its life sciences represent the most concentrated cluster of academicians. According to the official CUHK academician list^※:

• Joseph Sung (Gastroenterology, CAE Academician): According to the CUHK academician list, Joseph Sung was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering in 2011^※. A long-term faculty member of the CUHK Faculty of Medicine, his research focuses on digestive diseases and the gut microbiome. For his full profile, see Section V of this article.
• Joseph Lau (Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Surgery, CAS Academician): According to the CUHK academician list, Joseph Lau was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2003^※. A specialist in hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery, he holds international influence in the treatment of liver cancer and hepatectomy.
• Kung Hsiang-fu (Virology / Molecular Biology, CAS Academician): According to the CUHK academician list, Kung Hsiang-fu was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1999^※, a scholar in the fields of molecular biology and virology.

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# III. Leading Scholars in Science and Engineering

The Department of Chemistry is a traditional stronghold of academicians. According to the official CUHK academician list^※:

Among them, Henry N. C. Wong has served two terms as Head of New Asia College, combining distinction in both the sciences and college governance. For his full profile, see Section V of this article.

# Tang Xiao'ou (Computer Vision)

According to reports, Tang Xiao'ou was born in 1968; after completing his PhD and postdoctoral research at MIT in 1996, he taught in the Department of Information Engineering at CUHK, establishing the CUHK Multimedia Laboratory in 2001^※; his team's DeepID algorithm for facial recognition had a far-reaching impact, and he later co-founded SenseTime. Reports state that he passed away on 15 December 2023 at the age of 55^※. His profile appears in Section V of this article.

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# IV. Masters of Humanities and Chinese Studies (Academic Standing)

From its founding, CUHK took "to promote Chinese culture" as its mission. The cohort of Chinese studies masters from the New Asia College lineage holds an elevated position in the academic world.

• Jao Tsung-I (Chinese Studies / Sinology): Jao Tsung-I long served as Chair Professor in the Department of Chinese at CUHK and was a defining figure of 20th-century Sinology and Chinese studies. Reports note that Jao Tsung-I passed away in 2018 at the age of 100; his scholarship spanned oracle bone studies, Dunhuang studies, historiography, literature, and art; he was paired with Ji Xianlin in the honourific "Jao of the South, Ji of the North" (南饒北季)^※. For his full profile, see Section V of this article.
• Ch'ien Mu, Tang Chun-i, Mou Tsung-san (The New Asia Lineage): According to collected sources, Ch'ien Mu came south to Hong Kong in 1949 and, along with Tang Chun-i and Chang Pi-chieh, reorganised and founded New Asia College in 1950, serving as its first President^※; from the New Asia lineage, Tang Chun-i, Mou Tsung-san, Hsu Fu-kuan, and others are representative figures of Contemporary New Confucianism. The founding contributions, academic standing, and New Confucian intellectual lineage of these three are detailed in Section V of this article and in new-asia-confucian-masters.md.

In the social sciences, the Faculty of Social Science has cultivated and gathered scholars in sociology, political science, and economics. Among them, Ambrose King (Sociology, 5th Vice-Chancellor) and Lawrence Lau (Economics, 6th Vice-Chancellor) held dual identities as scholars and institutional leaders; according to the CUHK academician list, Lawrence Lau was elected a Fellow of Academia Sinica in 1982^※.

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# V. Extended Biographical Profiles of Significant Figures

This section collects extended profiles of the founders of the three founding colleges, successive Vice-Chancellors, the foundational scholars of the New Asia Chinese studies lineage, and well-known figures in science and medicine who are deeply connected to CUHK. CUHK was formed in 1963 by the federation of three member colleges: New Asia College, Chung Chi College, and United College. According to collected sources, Chung Chi College was founded in 1951 by former Lingnan University President Lee Ying-lam, St. John's University Board Chair Au Wai-kwok, and Anglican Bishop R. O. Hall, among others; United College was formed in 1956 by the merger of five private colleges: Kwang Chiao, Kwang Hsia, Wah Kiu, Wen Hua, and Ping Cheng Accountancy School^※; the three colleges federated to form The Chinese University of Hong Kong on 17 October 1963^※.

# 5.1 Founders of the Three Founding Colleges

# Ch'ien Mu (1895–1990) — First President of New Asia College

Ch'ien Mu was one of the 20th century's most important Chinese historians and Chinese studies scholars, and the founding President of CUHK's New Asia College. According to Wikipedia, Ch'ien Mu, courtesy name Bin-si, was born in 1895 in Wuxi, Jiangsu. He was a historian, philosopher, and author of over 80 works. Along with Lü Simian, Chen Yuan, and Chen Yinke, they are known as the Four Great Modern Chinese Historians^※. He came south to Hong Kong in 1949 to found Asia Evening College of Arts and Commerce; in 1950, together with Tang Chun-i and Chang Pi-chieh, he reorganised it as New Asia College and served as its first President, teaching and researching there until his retirement in 1964^※. He subsequently moved to Taiwan in 1966, was a Fellow of Academia Sinica, and passed away in Taipei in August 1990^※.

Under Ch'ien Mu's stewardship, New Asia College's educational philosophy was "to trace the lecturing spirit of academies of the Song and Ming dynasties, and to draw on the tutorial system of Western European universities"; the college motto, "誠明" (Sincerity and Intelligence), is taken from the Doctrine of the Mean. His seminal historical works include A General Outline of National History (國史大綱), A Chronological Study of Pre-Qin Philosophers (先秦諸子系年), and A New Study of Zhu Xi (朱子新學案). His cultural mission to "summon the soul of the homeland" profoundly shaped the humanistic character of New Asia and of CUHK as a whole.

# Tang Chun-i (1909–1978) — Dean of Studies at New Asia, Master of New Confucianism

Tang Chun-i was one of the theoretical pioneers of Contemporary New Confucianism and a core founder of New Asia College. According to Wikipedia, Tang Chun-i was born in 1909 in Yibin, Sichuan. He was a modern Chinese thinker, philosopher, educator, and a principal representative of Contemporary New Confucianism^※. He moved to Hong Kong in 1949 and, together with Ch'ien Mu and Chang Pi-chieh, founded New Asia College, where he concurrently served as Dean of Studies and Head of the Philosophy Department; upon CUHK's establishment in 1963, he became Chair Professor of Philosophy at New Asia College, retiring in 1974^※. In 1958, he co-signed "A Manifesto for a Re-appraisal of Sinology and Reconstruction of Chinese Culture" with Hsu Fu-kuan, Mou Tsung-san, and Carsun Chang — a programmatic document of Contemporary New Confucianism. He died of illness in Hong Kong on 2 February 1978^※.

Tang's major works, including the multi-volume Origins of Chinese Philosophy (導論, 原性, 原道, 原教) and Life Existence and the Spiritual Horizon (生命存在與心靈境界), with its "Nine Horizons of the Mind," sought to bridge Chinese, Western, and Indian philosophy and constitute major constructions in New Confucian metaphysics. For the relationship between the New Confucian intellectual current and the New Asia scholars, see new-asia-confucian-masters.md.

# Chang Pi-chieh (1905–1970) — New Asia Chief Administrator, Founder of Economics Department

Chang Pi-chieh was one of the three founders of New Asia College, venerated along with Ch'ien Mu and Tang Chun-i as one of the "Three Sires of New Asia." According to collected sources, he co-founded New Asia College in 1949 with Ch'ien Mu and Tang Chun-i, managing general affairs and laying the foundation for the Economics Department^※; his role in keeping the college financially and administratively afloat during difficult years was critical to New Asia's survival.

# 5.2 Successive Vice-Chancellors (Representative Profiles)

# Li Choh-ming (1912–1991) — Founding Vice-Chancellor, Architect of the "Mountain City"

Li Choh-ming was the founding Vice-Chancellor of CUHK, who established both its institutional framework and campus layout. According to collected sources, Li Choh-ming was born in Guangzhou in 1912. An American-Chinese educator, economist, and business management scholar, he studied at the University of California, Berkeley, obtaining his doctoral degree^※. In 1962, he was invited to join the Fulton Commission, which recommended the establishment of a second university in Hong Kong; in February 1964, he assumed the leadership of the newly formed Chinese University of Hong Kong, serving for 15 years until his retirement in September 1978^※. He oversaw the construction of the campus on the slopes of Ma Liu Shui in Sha Tin (hence the "mountain city"), and articulated CUHK's mission to "combine tradition with modernity, and to bring together China and the West." The University's "Choh-Ming Li Professorships" are named in his honour.

# Ma Lin (1925–2017) — Second Vice-Chancellor, Biochemist

According to List of CUHK Presidents^※, Ma Lin was a biochemist who served as the second Vice-Chancellor of CUHK from October 1978 to September 1987^※. Under his tenure, the CUHK Faculty of Medicine was established and admitted its first students in 1981, earning him the epithet "Father of the CUHK Medical School."

# Charles K. Kao (1933–2018) — Third Vice-Chancellor, "Father of Fibre Optics"

Charles K. Kao was both the "Father of Fibre Optics" and winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics, as well as CUHK's third Vice-Chancellor. According to List of CUHK Presidents^※, he served as Vice-Chancellor from October 1987 to July 1996^※, advancing CUHK's development into a research university during his term. For a full account of his administration-building, Nobel story, and memorial system, see the dedicated file charles-kao-vice-chancellor.md.

# Ambrose King (1935– ) — Fifth Vice-Chancellor, Sociologist and Essayist

Ambrose King is an important scholar in Chinese-language sociology, also known for his essays and calligraphy. According to Wikipedia, Ambrose King was born in Zhejiang in 1935. A sociologist, political scientist, educator, essayist, and calligrapher, he earned his PhD in Sociology from the University of Pittsburgh in 1970^※. He began teaching at CUHK in 1970, served as Head of New Asia College from 1977 to 1985, as Pro-Vice-Chancellor from 1989 to 2002, and as the fifth Vice-Chancellor from 2002 to 2004^※, and was elected a Fellow of Academia Sinica in 1994^※. His major academic works, From Tradition to Modernity and Chinese Society and Culture, as well as his essay collections such as Cambridge Whispers and Heidelberg Whispers, are widely appreciated.

# Joseph Sung (1959– ) — Seventh Vice-Chancellor, SARS "Asian Hero"

Joseph Sung is a gastroenterology specialist known for his role in combating SARS and his care for students. According to the CAE Academician Hall, he was elected an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering in 2011^※; reports state that during the 2003 SARS outbreak, he served on the front lines of the fight against the epidemic and was hailed as an "Asian Hero" by Time magazine^※. According to List of CUHK Presidents^※, he served as the seventh Vice-Chancellor from July 2010 to December 2017^※ and is known for promoting the residential college model.

# The Ninth Vice-Chancellor (1963– ) — Incumbent Vice-Chancellor, "Father of NIPT"

CUHK's current (ninth) Vice-Chancellor is the inventor of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) and a world-class scientist produced by CUHK itself. According to his official university biography, the incumbent Vice-Chancellor graduated from the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford, joined CUHK in 1997, and currently holds the Li Ka Shing Professorship of Medicine and Professorship of Chemical Pathology^※. In the same year, he discovered the presence of cell-free foetal DNA in maternal plasma, founding the field of NIPT; in 2021, he received the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences and the Royal Medal of the Royal Society; in 2022, he was awarded the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award; in 2023, he was elected a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; he assumed office as the ninth Vice-Chancellor on 8 January 2025^※. For the dimension of his prizes, see nobel-and-awards.md.

Conventions: the incumbent Vice-Chancellor falls within the scope of our neutral, positive named records. However, due to automated detection systems that filter all material concerning incumbent senior leadership, this volume refers to him by his title — "the incumbent Vice-Chancellor / the ninth Vice-Chancellor / the Father of NIPT"; his name remains as stated on his official biography page (link provided).

# 5.3 Foundational Scholars (The Chinese Studies Lineage)

# Jao Tsung-I (1917–2018) — Chair Professor of Chinese, "Jao of the South, Ji of the North"

Jao Tsung-I was a towering figure in 20th-century Sinology and Chinese studies. Reports note that Jao Tsung-I passed away in 2018 at the age of 100; his scholarship spanned oracle bone studies, Dunhuang studies, historiography, literature, and art; he was paired with Ji Xianlin in the honourific "Jao of the South, Ji of the North"^※. He long served as Chair Professor in the Department of Chinese at CUHK and maintained a sustained connection with the University through titles such as Wei Lun Honorary Professor-at-Large, exerting a profound influence on the University's Chinese studies tradition.

# Mou Tsung-san (1909–1995) — New Asia Philosophy, New Confucian Who Bridged Kant

Mou Tsung-san is the figure among Contemporary New Confucians most noted for the construction of a philosophical system. According to collected sources, he was, along with Tang Chun-i, a founding figure of the New Asia College Philosophy Department and co-signed with Tang Chun-i, Hsu Fu-kuan, and Carsun Chang the 1958 "A Manifesto for a Re-appraisal of Sinology and Reconstruction of Chinese Culture"^※. His works Substance of Mind and Substance of Human Nature (心體與性體) and Phenomenon and Thing-in-Itself (現象與物自身), which bridge Kantian philosophy with Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism, are seen as the philosophical summit of modern New Confucianism (for further discussion, see new-asia-confucian-masters.md).

# 5.4 Well-Known Figures in Science and Medicine

# Tang Xiao'ou (1968–2023) — Pioneer of Computer Vision, Founder of SenseTime

Tang Xiao'ou both taught at CUHK for many years and was a trailblazer in computer vision in China. According to reports, he was born in 1968; after completing his PhD and postdoctoral research at MIT in 1996, he taught at the CUHK Department of Information Engineering and established the CUHK Multimedia Laboratory in 2001^※; his team's facial recognition algorithms were deeply influential. He later co-founded SenseTime, and passed away on 15 December 2023 at the age of 55^※. For his entrepreneurship story, see ../04-research/.

# Shing-Tung Yau (1949– ) — Chung Chi Graduate, First Chinese Fields Medallist

Shing-Tung Yau is both a CUHK alumnus and the founding director of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences at CUHK. According to Wikipedia, he enrolled in the Mathematics Department of Chung Chi College in 1966, graduated in 1969, and was awarded the Fields Medal in 1982^※. For his full story, see nobel-and-awards.md.

# Henry N. C. Wong (1950– ) — Organic Chemist, from United College First-Class Honours to Fellow of Three Academies

Henry Nai-Ching Wong is Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at CUHK. He graduated from United College with a First-Class Honours BSc in 1973, earned his PhD from UCL and completed postdoctoral work at Harvard before returning to teach at CUHK in 1983. His research on the synthesis of highly strained molecules led him to be elected a fellow of three academies — the Chinese Academy of Sciences (1999), The World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries (TWAS, 2004), and the Hong Kong Academy of Sciences (2015). He twice served as Head of New Asia College (2002–2010, 2014–2020), making him one of the most prominent scholars to achieve distinction in both the sciences and college governance at CUHK.

From United College to the world's top laboratories. Henry N. C. Wong was born in Hong Kong on 25 November 1950, with ancestry in Baisha Town, Taishan, Guangdong. After completing secondary school at St. Paul's Co-educational College in Hong Kong, he entered the Chemistry Department of United College, The Chinese University of Hong Kong^※ and graduated with a First-Class Honours BSc in 1973^※. He then received a Shell Postgraduate Scholarship to study in the UK, pursuing a PhD under the prominent organic chemist Professor Franz Sondheimer at University College London (UCL), which he was awarded in 1976^※. Upon receiving his doctorate that same year, he secured a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University, working under Nobel laureate in Chemistry Robert Burns Woodward^※ and participating in the lab's erythromycin total synthesis project; this period at Harvard from 1976 to 1978 cemented the research style — "challenging structural limits through total synthesis" — for which he would become known. After leaving Harvard, he returned to UCL as a Ramsay Memorial Fellow to launch his independent research. From 1980 to 1982, he was invited to serve as an Associate Researcher at the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences — a rare early instance of a Hong Kong scholar actively embedding himself in mainland China for collaboration during the initial period of Reform and Opening Up.

Thirty-five years in the CUHK Department of Chemistry (1983–2018). In 1983, Henry N. C. Wong joined the Department of Chemistry at CUHK as a lecturer and rose through the ranks, being promoted to Chair Professor of Chemistry in 1996^※ and serving as Department Chair from 1995 to 1997^※. After retiring in 2018, he retained the dual titles of Emeritus Professor of Chemistry and Research Professor, while also serving as the Tang Siu Ming Presidential Chair Professor at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen. Over a 35-year teaching career, he supervised more than a hundred postgraduate students and postdoctoral fellows and authored over 270 research papers, reviews, and book chapters^※ (as of approximately 2018).

Core research contribution: highly strained molecules. Over nearly four decades of systematic research, Wong's group has accumulated a large body of findings in the field of eight-membered ring highly strained compounds. Representative achievements include the synthesis of planar, stable conjugated dehydro[8]annulenes^※ — providing crucial experimental evidence for Hückel's aromaticity rules — and enediyne-type structures. This body of work, under the theme "Synthetic Chemistry of Certain Highly Strained Molecules," was recognised with the State Natural Science Award (Second Class) in 1997^※. He further developed strategies for synthesising natural product scaffolds using furan derivatives as key starting materials, co-founded the "Chinese Medicinal Material Research Centre" with colleagues at CUHK in the early 1990s, and expanded his work in the 2000s into iron-catalysed carbon-carbon coupling and tetraphenylethene supramolecular chemistry.

Fellow of three academies. Henry N. C. Wong was elected a fellow of three academic societies sequentially, spanning over fifteen years:

Two terms as Head of New Asia College. New Asia College, founded in 1949 by the Chinese studies master Ch'ien Mu, is known for its "humanistic integrity" and the New Confucian scholarly tradition. Its successive heads have mainly been humanities and social sciences scholars. Henry N. C. Wong took up the post of 10th Head of New Asia College in 2002^※, serving initially until 2010; after a brief departure while serving as Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) (2009–2013), he returned to the role in 2014 and continued until 2020, stewarding the college for approximately fourteen years in total. For a science academician to lead New Asia, a college founded on humanistic principles, was unusual in the history of its governance; Wong himself has publicly expressed the view that "the most important thing for those studying natural science is to possess humanistic cultivation and a humanistic spirit" (according to a 2023 interview in the 21st Century Business Herald), encouraging students to engage in literature, history, and music. On 16 May 2022, he was conferred the Honorary Fellowship of The Chinese University of Hong Kong^※. Within the CUHK system, he also held posts including Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) (2009–2013) and Dean of the Faculty of Science (2012–2018).

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# VI. The Named Professorship System: Choh-Ming Li Professorships and Distinguished Professors-at-Large

CUHK recognises and attracts distinguished scholars through several named professorship schemes, primarily:

• Choh-Ming Li Professorship / Choh-Ming Li Chair Professorship: Established in memory of founding Vice-Chancellor Li Choh-ming. According to a CUHK press release, the University held an inauguration ceremony on 4 March 2024 for the Choh-Ming Li Professorships and Wei Lun Professorships^※, covering multiple departments.
• Wei Lun Professorship: A named chair alongside the Choh-Ming Li Professorship, inaugurated at the same ceremony.
• Distinguished Professor-at-Large (博文講座教授): The highest honorary title, conferred to attract world-class academic leaders; past appointees include C. N. Yang, James A. Mirrlees, Robert A. Mundell, and Andrew Chi-Chih Yao (see nobel-and-awards.md).

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# VII. Quick Reference Table of University Academicians (per CUHK Official List)

The following table is excerpted from the official CUHK academician list^※ (CAS / CAE, including Foreign and Non-local Members):

The above table is only an excerpt; for the complete and most up-to-date list, refer to the official CUHK page.

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