Newsletter No. 155

Five to Receive Honorary Doctorates The Chinese University will confer honorary doctorates on five distinguished persons at its 55th congregation to be held onThursday ,9th December 1999. The Honourable Donald Tsang will be conferred the degree of Doctor ofLaws, honoris causa. Prof. Daniel Tsui will receive the degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa. P r o f .Amartya Sen,P r o f .FeiX i ao t ong,and Mrs. Daisy Li will each be awarded the degree of Doctor of Social Science, honoris causa. The Honourable Donald Tsang Yam-kuen The Honourable Donald Tsang Yam-kuen is the first Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Mr. Tsang joined the civil service in 1967. Over a period of more than 30 years, he has held many important positions in the government. As Deputy Secretary of the General Duties Branch between 1985 and 1989, he took part in the early stage of the implementation of the Sino- British Joint Declaration. As Director-General of Trade (and Chief Trade Negotiator) between 1991 and 1993, he led Hong Kong through many tough trade negotiations. In May 1993, he was promoted to Secretary for the Treasury. Two years later, Mr. Tsang became the first Chinese to assume the post of the Financial Secretary of Hong Kong. Mr. Tsang's long and distinguished service in the government is widely recognized. He was made Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1997. He was also presented the award of Leader of the Year in 1997 by Sing Tao Daily and the Hong Kong Standard. Mr. Tsang is also a staunch supporter ofthe University. He officiated at the opening ofthe University's MBA Programmes Town Centre in 1997, and participated in a forum on the 1999-2000 budget organized jointly by the Faculty of Business Administration and the Department of Economics of the University, which was extremely well received. Both students and staff have benefited from Mr Tsang's long- standing support as well as his remarkable expertise and experience. Prof. Daniel Chee Tsui Nobel laureate in physics 1998, Prof. Daniel Chee Tsui is a world-renowned physicist. In 1982 Prof. Tsui discovered the remarkable fractional quantum Hall effect in his experimental studies of electrons in high-mobility semiconductor heterostructures placed in strong magnetic fields at very low temperatures. His discovery has had a profound impact on the understanding of the collective behaviour of strongly correlated electrons. Born in Henan, China, Prof. Tsui received his secondary education in Hong Kong and furthered his studies in the United States, obtaining his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1967. Upon graduation, Prof. Tsui joined the Solid State Electronics Research Laboratory at Bell Laboratories, New Jersey. He has been the Arthur LeGrand Doty Professor of Electrical Engineering at the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Princeton University since 1982. Prof. Tsui's outstanding work in physics and electronic engineering has brought him numerous prestigious awards. Besides the Nobel prize in physics, he has also received the American Physical Society Oliver Buckley Prize for Condensed Matter Physics and the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is also a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, the Academia Sinica in Taiwan, and the IEEE. Prof. AmartyaKumarSen A prominent economist and philosopher, Prof. Amartya Kumar Sen was awarded the 1998 Nobel prize in economics for his remarkable contributions to the research on fundamental problems in welfare economics. He is the first Asian to have received a Nobel prize in economics. By combining tools from economics and philosophy, he has restored an ethical dimension to the discussion of vital economic problems and opened up new fields of study for subsequent generations of researchers. He has improved the theoretical foundations for comparing different distributions of welfare in society and defined new and more satisfactory poverty indices. In empirical studies, the applications of his theoretical approach have enhanced the understanding of economic mechanisms underlying starvation and poverty. Having obtained his Ph.D. from Cambridge University in 1959, Prof. Sen has taught at various famous universities in the US, UK, and India. Currently he is Lamont University Professor Emeritus of Harvard University and Master of Trinity College at Cambridge University. Prof. Sen has received honorary doctoral degrees from prestigious universities in Canada, UK, India, France, Italy, USA, Belgium, Greece, Spain, Switzerland, and Sweden. He has also been the president o f various internationally-renowned professional bodies including the American Economic Association, the Indian Economic Association, the International Economic Association, and the Econometric Society. A passionate advocate of enhanced investment in health, education, and the creation of opportunities, Prof. Sen's work in welfare and development economics has enlightened economists and economics students alike. Prof. Fei Xiaotong A world-renowned sociologist and anthropologist, Prof. Fei Xiaotong has devoted himself to the teaching of and research on sociology and anthropology in China for almost six decades. His works on these subjects were instrumental in laying a solid foundation for the development of sociological and anthropological studies in China. He is currently Professor of Sociology at Peking University. Prof. Fei received his sociological training at Yenching University and Tsinghua University. He furthered his studies in England, obtaining his Ph.D. from the University of London. He then returned home where he taught at various universities. He has served as Deputy President and Professor of Anthropology of the Institute of Central Nationalities, Deputy Director of the Institute of Nationalities of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Director of the Institute of Sociology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and visiting professor of many famous universities overseas. He helped found the Chinese Sociological Association which promotes sociological studies in China. Prof. Fei's research on rural China has won him wide international acclaim and numerous awards, including the Malinowski Prize of the International Applied Anthropology Association, the Huxley Memorial Medal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, the Encyclopaedia Britannica Prize, and the Asian Cultural Prize in Fukuoka, Japan. Prof. Fei has served as Vice-President of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, and Vice-Chairman of the Drafting Committee for the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. He is now Honorary Chairman of the Central Committee of the China Democratic League. Prof. Fei has maintained a close relationship with the University since the early 1980's. He gave a distinguished Tanner Lecture organized by the University in 1988 as part of the University's 25th anniversary celebration programme. He served as Sir Run Run Shaw Distinguished Visiting Scholar in 1994. In November 1998, he visited Chung Chi College and the Department of Sociology as Chung Chi's Visiting Scholar sponsored by the K.C. Wong Foundation, and gave a speech on the industrialization and urbanization of rural China. Mrs. Daisy Li Woo Tze-ha Educated at St Stephen's Girls' College and The University of Hong Kong, Mrs. Daisy L i is a philanthropist, a community leader, and a dedicated supporter of welfare. She has made remarkable contributions to Hong Kong through her service to numerous community organizations. Mrs. L i joined the Hong Kong Red Cross in 1961, has served as its Deputy Director and Director , and is now a member of its Advisory Board. She is also founder of the Spastics Association of Hong Kong and a long time Executive Committee Member of St James' Settlement. Currently, Mrs. Li is Director of Hong Kong Young Women's Christian Association, of which she was President from 1988 to 1996. Mrs. Li has also been active in promoting local education. She was Supervisor of YWCA Hioe Tjo Yoeng College from 1986 to 1998. Founder of Hong Kong YWCA Athena Kindergarten, she has been supervisor of the kindergarten since 1993. Mrs. Li's close association with The Chinese University of Hong Kong began as early as the 1960's when her late husband the Honourable Li Fook Shu served as Council Member of the University. She has made significant contributions towards the construction of a new hostel in New Asia College and the organization of various student activities. Mrs. Li's distinguished contributions to community service and education have earned her numerous awards. To honour her long and devoted services, she was awarded badges of honour by the Hong Kong Red Cross. Mrs. L i was made a member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1993, and an Honorary University Fellow of The University of Hong Kong in 1998.