Bulletin Autumn 1978

Relief and Rehabilitation Conferences and to UN Economic Commission for Asia and Far East in 1947-49, Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Rehabilitation Affairs, National Government of China in 1949-50. Dr. Li resumed teaching in 1951, joining the University of California (Berkeley) and taught there until 1963 as Lecturer, Associate Professor and Professor of BusinessAdministration, and was for some time Director of the Center for Chinese Studies. In 1962 Dr. Li accepted the invitation of the Hong Kong Government to serve as a member of the First Fulton Commission, which recommended the establishment of a second university in Hong Kong. Dr. Li became the first Vice-Chancellor of the newly established Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1963. He will retire at the end of September 1978, after holding the post for 15 years. Dr. Li has published countless articles and monographs among which are: Economic Development of Communist China, (1959) Statistical System of Communist China (1962); The First Six Years, 1963-69 (1971); The Emerging University, 1970-74 (1975) and Li's Chinese Dictionary (in the press). In recognition of Dr. Li s contributions to education and culture’ universities and institutions the world over have awarded him with various honours among which are: honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Hong Kong (1967), University of Michigan (1967) Marquette University (1969) and University of Western Ontario (1970); honorary Doctor of Social Science by the University of Pittsburgh (1969); the Elsie and Walter A. Haas Inter Berkeley (1974); and he was elected an Honorary Member of The International Mark Twain Society in America (1977). He was also awarded a C.B.E, (Honorary) in 1967 and made a K.B.E.(Honorary) in 1973 by Her Majesty the Queen, Dr. Li was married in 1938 to Madam Sylvia Chi-wan Lu and has two sons and a daughter. Q. As a member of the first Fulton Commission, which recommended the establishment of The Chinese University, did you have any inkling that you would be appointed the first Vice- Chancellor of the University? What was your reaction when you were offered the post? And what made you decide to accept the appointment A. When I was invited to be a member of the Fulton Commission, the only member of Chinese descent, I was remotely concerned that I could be later drafted to be the first Vice-Chancellor. I had been very happy with the University of California at Berkeley and at the time was deeply involved in research projects out of which I was able to publish one book every one or two years. Therefore I insisted that another member of Chinese descent, particularly from the Commonwealth countries, be also invited to be a member of the Commission. As a res lt, Professor Thong Saw-pak of Malaysia was invited. When the Fulton Commission presented its Report, I did not sense any strong possibi- lity that I would be invited to be the first Vice- Chancellor. When the post was offered to me, I declined and the negotiation went on for many months. What finally made me accept were: 1) the Hong Kong Government had decided to allocate the hills next to Chung Chi College to be the University site, instead of the original decision to locate the University at the valley below S atin Heights, which is far away from Chung Chi College; (2) one of the three Foundation College Presidents flew in from Hong Kong to persuade me, on behalf of the three College Presidents, to accept the post; 3) the University of California, at the urging of London and Washington, agreed to give me an unusually long leave of absence of three years. Q. Then what made you stay on for fifteen years? 2