Bulletin Spring‧Summer 1991

Eulogy by Sir Quo-wei Lee, Chairman of University Council ， CUHK Today we gather here to mourn the passing of Dr. Choh-Ming Li, founding vice-chancellor of The Chinese University of Hong Kong. As Dr. Li's close friend and colleague for almost 30 years, may I avail myself of this opportunity to recount for you his life and his significant contributions to the development of higher education in Hong Kong, and to The Chinese University in particular. Back in 1962 the Hong Kong Government appointed the first Fulton Commission to study the feasibility of establishing a second university in Hong Kong. Dr. Li, then professor of business administration and director of the Center for Chinese Studies at the University of California at Berkeley, was invited as the first Chinese member to join the commission, with a view to creating more opportunities for Hong Kong's young people who aspired to pursue higher education. One year afterwards, in 1963, The Chinese University of Hong Kong was founded on the recommendation of the Fulton Commission, and Dr. Li gave up his career in the States and returned to Hong Kong to take up the challenge of building a new university here. This appointment was particularly meaningful because Dr. Li was the first Chinese ever to become vice-chancellor of a university in Hong Kong. As we all know, the new Chinese University originated from three separate post-secondary colleges, each with its own history and management structure. What Dr. Li successfully did in the early years was to amalgamate these colleges into a cohesive institution with a common goal. That was no small feat, but it was one which he accomplished with sagacity and tact, which we all admire. Dr. Li was also farsighted enough to appreciate that in a basically Chinese society Hong Kong's education system should be rooted in Chinese culture. Local higher education, he firmly believed, should be based on Chinese studies and the propagation of Chinese culture, while emphasizing continuous interaction with the West and the application of scientific methodology. In so doing the educational goal of blending Chinese and Western cultures and keeping abreast with the times could be achieved. Dr. Li served as vice-chancellor for a long period, 15 years, during which the University grew rapidly under his able leadership. In the first few years of its existence, for example, the University had no campus of its own. It was through Dr. Li's tremendous efforts, which were staunchly supported by Sir Cho-Yiu Kwan, Dr. R.C. Lee and many other council members, that a site of 330 acres in Ma Liu Shui was secured from the government for the University to develop its campus. What Dr. Li managed to do next was to raise a very substantial amount of money through donations from governments, local and overseas foundations, as well as the business community, to finance the construction of university facilities. Anyone who has witnessed the transformation of a barren hill top to a well developed university town will realize how much was involved in the process and fully appreciate Dr. Li's efforts. Dr. Li's work did not, In Memory of Dr. C. M. Li 8