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The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) presented a public lecture by Dr. Song Jian, a distinguished state leader and a world-renowned scientist, on ‘Six Decades of Science and Technology: in Service to the Nation’ today (9 December) on campus. Dr. Song will be conferred the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, at the 67th Congregation of CUHK to be held tomorrow (10 December). During the lecture, Dr. Song gave an overview of China’s technological development over the past 60 years. He also spoke on a number of scientific breakthroughs which China has brought major impacts to the whole world, as well as his vision on China’s future development in the field.

Dr. Song Jian is a distinguished scientist in the fields of control theory, system engineering and aerospace technology. He received a Doctor of Science in 1990 from the Moscow National Technical University. Dr. Song’s previous positions include the Vice Minister and Chief Engineer-Scientist of Ministry of Astronautics, Chairman of State Science and Technology Commission, State Councilor of the government of the People’s Republic of China, Chairman of National Environmental Protection Committee of State Council, Vice Chairman of State Leading Group of Science and Technology, President of Chinese Academy of Engineering, Vice Chairman of the 9th National Committee of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and the First Vice Chairman of Committee on Academic Degrees of China’s State Council. Now he is Honorary Chairman of Presidium of Chinese Academy of Engineering, Academician of both the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering. He has also been elected as a member or conferred honorary doctorates by various overseas academic institutions.

As a staunch believer in ‘rejuvenating the country through science and education’, Dr. Song introduced a great number of important projects which have successfully brought about technological and economic advancements to the country. He initiated the ‘Sparks Program’ aimed at alleviating rural poverty and the ‘Torch Program’ which has spearheaded the development of high-tech industries across China. He also led the national-wide implementation of the ‘863 Program’ (high-tech research), ‘Climbing Program’ (fundamental science research) and the ‘Xia-Shang-Zhou Chronology Project’.

Dr. Song has been conferred a number of honors and awards both at home and abroad, including the ‘Most Distinguished Young Scientist’ award in China, the highest National Award for Scientific and Technological Progress, the Albert Einstein Award, China’s National Natural Science Prize, the National Prize for Excellent Scientific Publications, and the very special HLHL (HK) Award.