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The Council of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has recently approved the recommendation of the Search Committee to appoint Prof. Ng Cheuk-yiu as Dean of Science effective from today (1 September 2009). He will serve for a term of five years on a full-time basis.

Before joining CUHK, Professor Ng Cheuk-yiu was a Distinguished Professor of the Department of Chemistry, University of California (UC), Davis. After obtaining his BSc degree from CUHK in 1971, Prof. Ng pursued further studies in physical chemistry at the University of Chicago under the guidance of Prof. Lee Yuan-tseh (a co-winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry). In 1973, Professor Ng followed the relocation of Prof. Lee to UC Berkeley where he received his PhD degree in physical chemistry in 1976.

Prof. Ng remarked, ‘As an alumnus of CUHK, I am very excited to have the opportunity to return and serve as Dean of Science. Many departments in the Faculty of Science, among the strongest at CUHK, are of world-class status. I look forward to working closely with the science faculty, staff, and students to make CUHK a fun and exciting place for higher learning and creative research.’

Professor Ng is known for his pioneering experimental research in high-resolution vacuum ultraviolet photoionization mass spectrometry, photoelectron spectroscopy, photodissociation dynamics, laser chemistry, and ion-molecule reaction dynamics. Other than the fundamental value, his research has significant relevance to the fields of mass spectrometry, combustion chemistry, atmospheric chemistry, and astrochemistry. As recognitions of his academic achievements, he was named Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow and Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar, and was conferred the Alexander von Humboldt Senior Scientist Award.

Professor Ng has always been enthusiastic about contributing to scientific developments in Hong Kong, mainland China and Taiwan. He served as the visiting examiner of the Chemistry Department of CUHK from 1994 to 1997 and a member of the external visiting review committees of the Chemistry Department of National Taiwan University in 1998 and 2004. He has been Honorary Professor of Zhengzhou University, China since 1985 and has served as the Director (Honorary) of the National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory of the University of Science and Technology of China from 2005 to 2009. He also visited CUHK as the Siu Lien Ling Wong Visiting Fellow 2008-09 of Chung Chi College earlier this year.

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 Science was set up in April 2008. Subsequently the Committee launched global search for the Dean of Science. A total of 49 applications/nominations were received. After carefully considering the applications/nominations, the Search Committee unanimously recommended Prof. Ng Cheuk-yiu for the Deanship of Science. In line with the appointment procedures, Professor Ng had met with teachers and students of the Faculty of Science earlier to exchange ideas on the future developments of the faculty, and the Council subsequently appointed him as Dean of Science.

With the appointment of Professor Ng, CUHK has appointed seven faculty deans since August 2008. The other six 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; and Prof. Paul Lee, Dean of Social Science.