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The President of Yale University, Professor Richard Charles Levin, was formally presented with his Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws by a delegation from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), on 15 January 2013, in a ceremony held at the President’s Lodge, Yale University in New Haven.

The delegation, led by CUHK Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Joseph Sung, undertook this fruitful academic trip to enhance academic collaborations between CUHK and Yale. Professor Joseph Sung took the opportunity to present to Professor Levin in person the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws conferred upon in absentia at CUHK’s 72nd Congregation in December last year, in recognition of Professor Levin’s outstanding contributions to higher education.

In his acceptance speech, Professor Levin said he was deeply honored to have been awarded this Degree.  He was especially delighted to have been given the award in CUHK’s 50th year. He added that 2012-13 is an important year for the University, which is embarking on a course of curriculum reform “that is at the leading edge of the kind of reform in higher education that I have spent the last decade in thinking about and in learning about.”

Professor Levin said: “It is really inspiring to see what is going on at the CUHK with its new curriculum, encouraging as it is the cultivation of critical and independent thinking in students.  It is creating a curriculum that gives  …[a] broad multi-disciplinary perspective on the world.”

“You have a wonderful history, you contributed greatly to the advancement of Hong Kong and the region. You continue to produce outstanding students, we value all of the collaborations we have with the CUHK.” Professor Levin added.

Professor Sung admired Professor Levin’s great contributionsto the development of worldwide higher education including China: “The recognition is for your insight and your tremendous contribution to higher education – not just in the West, but also in the East.”

Professor Sung hoped that in the years to come the connection between Yale and China, and Yale and CUHK will continue to go from strength to strength. He said: “We do look forward to more collaborations, not just in student exchange, but hopefully also in faculty exchange and in many other areas.”

Biography – Professor Richard C Levin

Professor Richard C Levin is currently President of Yale University and Frederick William Beinecke Professor of Economics. He received his Ph.D. from Yale in 1974 and served in various leadership positions before becoming President in 1993. He is the longest-serving Ivy League president. Recognized as one of the leaders of American higher education, Professor Levin has made significant contributions to the international expansion of Yale University, the enhancement of its science and engineering programmes, and campus construction and expansion. Collaboration between Yale University and CUHK has been established for several decades. The Yale-CUHK Programme for Chinese Studies began in 1991 and the two universities also have maintained faculty and student exchange programmes through New Asia College and Chung Chi College. Research collaborations in engineering, humanities, and natural sciences have resulted in fruitful outcomes.

Professor Levin is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has been awarded honorary doctorates from the universities of Harvard, Princeton, Oxford, Peking, Tokyo and Waseda.