CUHK
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The Council of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has approved the recommendation of the Search Committee to appoint Prof. C.P. Wong, world-renowned scholar in electronic engineering and a member of the US National Academy of Engineering, as Dean of Engineering effective from early 2010. He will serve for a term of five years on a full-time basis.

Professor Wong received primary and secondary education in Hong Kong and furthered his education in the US. He received his BS degree from Purdue University, and his PhD degree from the Pennsylvania State University. After his doctoral study, he was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship under Nobel laureate Prof. Henry Taube at Stanford University. Currently, he is a Regents’ Professor and the Charles Smithgall Institute Endowed Chair at the School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology (GT). He also serves as a Visiting Examiner of the Department of Electronic Engineering of CUHK. Prior to joining GT, he was with AT&T Bell Laboratories for many years and became an AT&T Bell Laboratories Fellow in 1992.

Professor Wong is delighted to accept the appointment, ‘Hong Kong is the place where I grew up. I am most pleased to return to my hometown after so many years and to contribute to the education sector and give back to society. I look forward to working with all the great colleagues at the Chinese University’s Faculty of Engineering, to continue to lead in engineering education and research in Hong Kong, the Pearl River Delta and all of China.’

Widely recognised as an academic giant, Professor Wong’s research interests lie in the fields of polymeric electronic materials, electronic, photonic and MEMS packaging and interconnect, interfacial adhesions, and nano-functional material syntheses and characterizations. He is considered an industry legend and has made significant contributions to the industry by pioneering new materials, which fundamentally changed the semiconductor packaging technology. With excellent achievements in both teaching and research, Professor Wong has successfully motivated and nurtured numerous inquisitive young minds over the years. He is also committed to serving the industry by being the President of the IEEE Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology (CPMT) Society in 1992 and 1993. As a distinguished scholar, Professor Wong was awarded numerous international honours, such as the IEEE CPMT Field Award and David Feldman Outstanding Contributions Award, the IEEE Third Millennium Medal, and the IEEE EAB Education Award. He also received the Georgia Tech Class of 1934 Distinguished Professor Award, and was recently named one of the Distinguished Alumni of the Pennsylvania State University.

Professor Wong has published widely with over 900 technical papers. He has yielded fruitful research results and holds over 50 US patents.

Full-time Appointed Deanship

The Higher Education in Hong Kong – Report of the University Grants Committee (Sutherland Report) of 2002 recommended a system of appointed Deans for local universities. All UGC-funded institutions now follow such a system, as do many leading overseas universities. Following a review of the University’s governance structure and consultations, the Council has decided to move from a system of ‘concurrent deanships by election’ to ‘full-time deanships by appointment’.

In accordance with the guidelines and procedures for the search and appointment of full-time faculty deans approved by the University Council in the summer of 2007, a Search Committee for the Deanship of Engineering was set up in July 2008. Subsequently the Committee launched global search for the Dean of Engineering. A total of 54 applications/nominations were received. After carefully considering the applications/nominations, the Search Committee unanimously recommended Prof. C.P. Wong for the Deanship of Engineering. In line with the appointment procedures, Professor Wong had met with teachers and students of the Faculty of Engineering earlier to exchange ideas on the future developments of the faculty, and the Council subsequently appointed him as Dean of Engineering.

With the appointment of Professor Wong, CUHK has appointed faculty deans for all its eight faculties since August 2008. The other seven appointed deans are Prof. Mike McConville, Dean of Law; Prof. Fok Tai-fai, Dean of Medicine; Prof. Wong Tak-jun, Dean of Business Administration; Prof. Hsiung Ping-chen, Dean of Arts; Prof. John Lee, Dean of Education; Prof. Paul Lee, Dean of Social Science; and Prof. Ng Cheuk-yiu, Dean of Science.