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Professor Robert A. Mundell, world-renowned economist and Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences 1999, joined The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) as Distinguished Professor-at-Large on 1 September 2009. Currently, five world-class masters are serving as Distinguished Professor-at-Large at CUHK, three of them Nobel Laureates. CUHK is also the only university in Hong Kong with Nobel Laureates among its faculty members. As Distinguished Professor-at-Large, Professor Mundell will stay at the Chinese University for two months each year to do teaching and provide leadership for the cause of general academic advancement.

To mark the first anniversary of the financial tsunami, Professor Mundell gave a lecture titled ‘Financial Crisis and Its Implications for the Future of the International Monetary System’ on CUHK campus today (24 September). The lecture was warmly received by six hundred CUHK staff and students, members of the political, business, and academic sectors, and the public.

One of the major implications of the recent financial crisis is the need to reform the current international monetary system, of which the US Dollar is the dominant currency. During the financial crisis, the system was said to have brought about massive losses to the global economy. It is thus of vital importance to maintain a stable international monetary system, so as to ensure the healthy and sustainable development of the global economy. In the lecture, Professor Mundell shared his insights on the financial crisis and its implications for the future of the international monetary system. His analysis shed new light on the development of a new and fair international monetary system.

Professor Mundell was born in 1932. After graduating from the University of British Columbia in Economics and Slavonic Studies, he studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the London School of Economics, receiving his PhD from MIT in 1956. He taught at Stanford University and The Johns Hopkins Bologna Center of Advanced International Studies before joining the International Monetary Fund in 1961. From 1966 to 1971, he was Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago and Editor of the Journal of Political Economy. Since 1974, he has been Professor of Economics and since 2001, University Professor at Columbia University in New York.

Professor Mundell prepared one of the first plans for a common currency in Europe and is known as the father of the theory of optimum currency areas. He has also played an early role in the founding of the Euro. In 1999, he received the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for ‘his analysis of monetary and fiscal policy under different exchange rate regimes and his analysis of optimum currency areas’. He was appointed Companion of the Order of Canada in the same year, and in 2005 was awarded the Global Economics Award of the Kiel Institute, Germany, and appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Merit. He has also written extensively on the history of the international monetary system. His writings include over a hundred articles in scientific journals and books.

Throughout the years, Professor Mundell has received over fifty honorary professorships and doctorates. He has also been an adviser to a number of international agencies and organizations including the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the European Commission, and several governments in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe, the Federal Reserve Board, the United States Treasury and the Government of Canada.

The lecture was broadcast live to local universities, and the Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks with the aim of extending its benefits and raising public awareness of the issues discussed. It was available on the Hong Kong Education City web site for online viewing by secondary school students and teachers. There was also a live feed to major mainland universities.

The Distinguished Professor-at-Large is a specially created chair with university-wide responsibilities. Besides Professor Mundell, the other four CUHK Distinguished Professors-at-Large are Professor Yang Chen-ning, the first Chinese Nobel Laureate; Professor Sir James A. Mirrlees, Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences 1996; Professor Yau Shing-tung, Director of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences of CUHK and the only Chinese Fields Medallist; and Professor Andrew Chi-chih Yao, the first Chinese scientist to receive the prestigious Turing Award, the highest honour in computer science. They have made remarkable contributions to the University in providing quality education and strengthening the relation between Hong Kong and the international scholarly community. As a comprehensive research university with a global vision, the Chinese University will continue to strengthen the relation between Hong Kong and the international scholarly community and to make further contributions to Hong Kong and the entire region.