HKUST 2008-2009 Annual Report
7
校長
President’s Report
A
n annual report is supposed to review the year that
has gone by. But as the brand-new president who
has barely warmed the seat, I must ask for a special one-
off indulgence to talk about what lies ahead and around
us. As for the usual institutional year-in-review, I can do
little but bask in the reflected glory of yet another glorious
year at HKUST under the stewardship of my predecessor,
Prof Paul Chu.
HKUST is a university of inexorable progress. Although
we don’t live for rankings, it is nice to know that last
year
Times Higher Education Supplement
World University
Rankings placed this university at 39th, a leap from 53rd
in 2007 and 58th in 2006. Our joint EMBA program
with the Kellogg School of Business has taken up semi-
permanent residence in the stratospheric top-three spot
in the world in the last few years.
Proud as we are of the progress we have made, we have
no spare capacity for complacency. Mainland China’s
economic and geopolitical ascendancy has given us the
opportunity to play a significant role in her development.
We must answer our national leaders’ call for a greater
push towards science and technology to create a
better life for the people of our country. The Institute
for Advanced Study (IAS) at HKUST is making exciting
progress in furthering its mission as a global platform
for innovation, scientific and economic
development in Hong Kong and the Greater
China region; and an active participant in
building a highly educated, vibrant and
humane society. We all look forward to
the commencement of the construction
of IAS's infrastructure on our Lee Shau Kee
Campus towards the end of 2009.
校長
陳繁昌教授
President
Professor Tony F Chan
I am also pleased to see that our partnership in The Peking
University-HKUST Shenzhen-Hong Kong Institution is
bearing fruit as it becomes the only institution of its
kind in Guangdong to be recognized by the Ministry of
Science and Technology as a National Hi-Tech Innovation
Service Center.
Meanwhile, the Nansha authorities have formally
established cooperative ties with the Fok Ying Tung
Graduate School which will better facilitate and support
the School’s development in Nansha in terms of research
and education. In future, we hope to further intensify
cooperation with Mainland institutions.
The Hong Kong SAR Government has identified six
new pillars of economy, including education as well as
technology and innovation.
In the US, despite the ravages of the financial tsunami,
government funding for science and technology
has increased. Its leaders know that technology and
innovation is a ticket to future prosperity.
HKUST’s international reputation is growing by leaps
and bounds as reflected by the number of overseas
visitors and the number of strategic partnerships we have
with sister institutions overseas. The Memorandum of
Understanding we signed with Saudi Aramco
— the world’s largest oil corporation —
illustrates our growing international
network of strategic partners.
