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UK University acknowledges Asia’s achievements

Lord Wilson Visits to Bestow Hong Kong Honours

The University of Aberdeen awarded two honorary doctorates to Hong Kong’s leading figures yesterday (12 January, 2005), at its first honorary graduation ceremony in Hong Kong. Presiding over the ceremony was the University’s Chancellor and penultimate Governor of Hong Kong, Lord Wilson of Tillyorn.

A past President of the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine, Dr Leong Che-hung, and a distinguished University of Aberdeen alumni, Mr Marshall H Byres, Managing Partner, Far East, Ernst & Young, were awarded honorary doctorates in a special ceremony at The Hong Kong Club.

Lord Wilson was delighted to be returning to the territory to represent the University of Aberdeen in his role as Chancellor.

During his visit, Lord Wilson was joined by the University of Aberdeen's Principal and Vice Chancellor, Professor C Duncan Rice. Together, they also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Hong Kong that will further promote the long-standing connections between the two educational establishments that stretch back to 1879.

Lord Wilson said: “In Hong Kong and throughout Asia, people place a high value on education and life-long learning. They rightly view it as the key to success and personal achievement. In bestowing honorary degrees upon a distinguished University of Aberdeen alumnus, Mr. Marshall Byres, and an outstanding leader of the medical profession, Dr. Leong Che-hung, we recognize the enormous contributions that they have made to their professions, and to the community.

"In signing the Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Hong Kong we are marking both the University of Aberdeen's close involvement with the foundation of the original 'Hong Kong College of Medicine' in 1887, and the commitment we both have to education as a whole,” said Lord Wilson.

The alliance is part of a wider programme marking the University of Aberdeen’s long-standing links with Asia that involves a series of events following the honorary graduation ceremony. Historically, the University of Aberdeen graduates have played a significant role in the region with graduates actively involved in business and commerce across the Asia Pacific region.

The University of Aberdeen’s research excellence has allowed it to secure its position as a leading research-led institution and influence global issues, attracting some of the world’s most distinguished scholars and reinforcing its own academic strengths. An increasing number of Chinese students are attracted to the University of Aberdeen. Currently they make up nearly a quarter of the University of Aberdeen’s international student population.

Professor C Duncan Rice, Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen, said: “During our visit to the region, we want to highlight ways in which the University of Aberdeen is working with institutions, contributing to fundamental change in Hong Kong and Mainland China in the areas of Oil and Gas, Property and Medicine. The University of Aberdeen seeks to foster academic exchange that will bring enormous benefit to the APAC community.”

In Hong Kong, the University of Aberdeen has a thriving alumni community and is well represented by its established Aberdeen University Hong Kong Association. The Association actively sponsors scholarships for Hong Kong students to attend the University.

The University of Aberdeen has also embarked on a joint project with the China Scholarship Council to encourage scholarships for students from China. The University of Aberdeen has formal agreements with the Petroleum University of China and the Beijing Institute of Technology to increase recruitment of postgraduate students. A recent high-level visit to the University of Aberdeen from the National Science Foundation of China also discussed the mechanisms for increasing the number of PhD students coming from China.

“This is an extremely exciting time for the University of Aberdeen to be working with Asia’s leading institutions. We are very proud of our investment in attracting some of the world's most distinguished scholars to reinforce the considerable academic strengths we already have,” concluded Principal Rice.

The programme included a medical symposium at the University of Hong Kong, and a dinner for business and academic leaders at the Ritz Carlton Hotel attended by Principal Rice.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

Professor C Duncan Rice
Principal & Vice-Chancellor of the University Of Aberdeen

Professor C Duncan Rice has been Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen since September 1996. He was previously Dean of the Faculty (1985-91), and Vice-Chancellor (1991-96) at New York University, playing a key role in one of the most successful US higher education fund-raising campaigns, which raised over $1 billion in 10 years. Professor Rice was born in Aberdeen, and took a first in history at the University of Aberdeen in 1964. He taught briefly at Aberdeen and completed an Edinburgh doctorate before spending much of his professional life at Yale and New York University.

Professor Rice has published widely as a professional historian. He is the recipient of many academic awards and honours, including an Honorary Degree from New York University, fellowships at Harvard and Yale, as well as being a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He serves on the Board of Scottish Opera, the Heritage Lottery Fund Committee for Scotland, and is Vice-Chairman of Scottish Enterprise Grampian. He was Chairman of the Circumpolar Universities Association from 1997-1999, and is Chairman of the UK Socrates-Erasmus Trust, and a member of the Universities and Colleges Employers Association Board.

The Lord Wilson of Tillyorn KT GCMG (formerly Sir David Clive Wilson)
Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen

Lord Wilson entered the Foreign Service in 1958. Much of his distinguished career related to China and Hong Kong. He was First Secretary at the Peking Embassy (1963-65) and was also Political Adviser, Hong Kong (1977-81). A Chinese scholar, he also edited the China Quarterly between 1968 and 1974. He was Governor, Hong Kong, from 1987 to 1992.

Amongst other activities, Lord Wilson is now Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge, and Chairman of the University of Aberdeen Development Trust.

Lord Wilson is an honorary graduate of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Photographs from yesterday’s first honorary graduation ceremony in Hong Kong can be sent electronically. Please contact Angela Ferguson, University of Aberdeen, on: (01224) 272960 to arrange.

Issued by the Communications Team, Office of External Affairs, University of Aberdeen, King's College, Aberdeen. Tel: (01224) 272014.

Issued on: Thursday 13th of January 2005

Ref: 1566HongKong
Contact: Angela Ferguson

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