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The Council of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has earlier approved the recommendation of the Search Committees to appoint Professor Hsiung Ping-chen, an internationally active historian, as Dean of Arts from 2 July 2009; Professor Wong Tak-jun as Dean of Business Administration from 1 February 2009; and Professor Fok Tai-fai as Dean of Medicine with effect from 1 November 2008. Each will serve initially for a term of five years on a full-time basis.

Professor Hsiung Ping-chen Appointed Dean of Arts

Professor Hsiung Ping-chen is currently Research Fellow at the Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica, Taipei, and K.T. Li Chair at Central University in Taiwan. She served as Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Central University from 2004 to 2007. An internationally renowned scholar in her field, she has also made remarkable achievements in academic administration.

Having received her B.A. in History from Taiwan University, she furthered her studies in the US and received her M.A. and Ph.D. in History from Brown University and her S.M. in Population Studies and International Health from the School of Public Health at Harvard University. Her research interest lies in the areas of women’s and children’s health, gender and family relations, and intellectual and social history of early modern/modern China and Europe. She served as Director of the Humanities Centre at the Central University in Taiwan, and played an instrumental role in founding the interdisciplinary group ‘Ming-Ch’ing Studies’ at the Academia Sinica. Over the years, Professor Hsiung has held visiting professorships at many leading academic institutions in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, including UCLA, Cornell University, University of Michigan, Freie Universitat Berlin, and Keio University, Japan.

Professor Hsiung has been closely associated with CUHK for almost two decades. In 1989, she was invited to be a visiting scholar of the newly established Shaw College. She worked with Professor Chen Char-nie, the Founding Head of Shaw College and Professor of Psychiatry and other scholars to add a historical and humanities component to the university’s medical library. Over the past two decades, Professor Hsiung has frequently visited CUHK for academic exchange. She was also invited as a visiting professor to the Department of History in 2007 to share with the students and to conduct academic research.

Professor Hsiung was delighted with the appointment, and looked forward to meeting with the teachers and students of CUHK again on campus. With the belief that humanities are essential for a comprehensive university, she will endeavour to further strengthen and enhance the leading position of the Faculty, and ride on the opportunity of the 3-3-4 transition in 2012 to develop some far-sighted plans for the Faculty of Arts along with colleagues.

Professor Wong Tak-jun Appointed Dean of Business Administration

Professor Wong Tak-jun is Professor of Accountancy at CUHK, and has been the Associate Dean (Research) before taking up the current position as the Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration since August 2008. He is also the Director of the Center for Institutions and Governance at CUHK. He received his B.A. in Economics (summa cum laude) from Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA, and MBA and Ph.D. degrees from UCLA. Before joining CUHK in 2004, he taught at the University of Maryland–College Park, USA, and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He has been an adjunct professor at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics since 2001.

Being an expert in corporate governance, Professor Wong has published numerous research articles in top finance and accounting journals both in the international arena and locally. His research was featured in prestigious venues, like the Wall Street Journal, and was used in the U.S. congressional testimony on Securities Fraud Litigation. He is a member of the editorial boards of a number of international journals, and was also the president of the China Accounting Professor Association of North America, 2006–2007.

Professor Wong has received the Vice-Chancellor’s Exemplary Teaching Award of CUHK in 2007 for his work in accountancy education, and has also been honoured with the teaching awards of the Faculty of Business Administration in 2004, 2005 and 2006.

Professor Wong remarked, “I am excited to take up the challenging role as Dean of Business Administration. It is our vision to be a leader in business research and education with an Asian focus and global impact. We hope to contribute to the economy through providing the best business education to our future business talents.”

Professor Fok Tai-fai Appointed Dean of Medicine

Professor Fok is Professor of Paediatrics at CUHK, and Honorary Consultant and Cluster Coordinator in Paediatrics of the New Territories East Cluster. He joined the Department of Paediatrics of CUHK in 1984 and served as Sub-Dean and Associate Dean before he took up the concurrent position of Dean of Medicine in 2004.

Professor Fok graduated from the Medical Faculty, The University of Hong Kong, and served in HKU and Queen Mary Hospital as a Lecturer in Paediatrics. A paediatrician by training, he has spent a number of years working in the Neonatal Units at John Radcliffe Hospital in the University of Oxford, UK and the McMaster University Medical Centre, Canada, and has held the position of Chief of Service in Paediatrics of the Prince of Wales Hospital.

An internationally renowned paediatrician, Professor Fok has published over 350 research articles in international journals, and is serving as editorial board member in a number of international and national medical journals. He is a Fellow of the Royal Colleges of Physicians (London and Edinburgh), Royal College of Paediatricians and Child Health, and the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine and Hong Kong College of Paediatricians. He serves on a large number of committees and advisory boards of the Government and non-government organizations and has contributed significantly to the community. He is a Board Member and Chairman of the Medical Services Development Committee of the Hong Kong Hospital Authority, Deputy Chairman of the Preliminary Investigation Committee of the Hong Kong Medical Council, and the Immediate Past President of the Hong Kong College of Paediatricians. Professor Fok has also received many honours and awards throughout his career, including the Outstanding Asian Paediatrician Award (2003), the Vice-Chancellor’s Exemplary Teaching Award of CUHK (2002), and Master Teaching Award of the Faculty of Medicine (2003). He had also been honoured with the Teacher of the Year Award of the Faculty of Medicine for 5 times.

Professor Fok was pleased to accept the appointment, he remarked, “Owing to the hard work of all members of the Faculty and the visionary leadership of the former deans, the Faculty of Medicine at The Chinese University has achieved tremendous growth in teaching, research and social services in our short history of 27 years. After my reappointment, I will continue to work closely with fellow members to scale our Faculty to new heights.”

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, Search Committees for the Deanship of Arts, Business Administration and Medicine were set up and global searches were launched in January 2008. Dozens of nominations/ applications were received for each deanship. After carefully considering the nominations/applications, the Search Committees unanimously recommended Professor Hsiung Ping-chen for the Deanship of Arts, Professor Wong Tak-jun for the Deanship of Business Administration and Professor Fok Tai-fai for the Deanship of Medicine. In line with the appointment procedures, the three professors met with teachers and students of their respective faculties earlier to exchange ideas on the future developments of the faculties, and the Council subsequently appointed them as Deans.