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The Government today (March 23) announced that the Chief Executive had appointed the Hon Cha May Lung Laura to succeed Dr Alice Lam Lee Kiu-yue as Chairman of the University Grants Committee with effect from April 1, 2007 for a period of three years.
The Secretary for Education and Manpower, Professor Arthur K C Li, welcomed Mrs Cha's appointment as the new committee chairman.
"Mrs Cha is a prominent business leader who is also fully dedicated to serving the community, including the tertiary education sector. Her strong commitment to tertiary education is demonstrated by her dedicated service at the Council of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology to which she has rendered useful insights and advice."
"I am confident that with Mrs Cha as the chairman, the University Grants Committee will continue to provide excellent leadership for the committee sector and useful advice to the Government in the coming years, when the University Grants Committee-funded institutions are intensively preparing for the four-year undergraduate programmes under the new '3+3+4' academic structure," Professor Li said.
Mrs Cha is the non-executive Deputy Chairman of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, and was the Deputy Chairman of the Securities and Futures Commission from 1998 to 2001. She was also a Vice-Chairman of the China Regulatory Commission under the State Council from 2001 to 2004.
Professor Li also paid tribute to Dr Alice Lam, the retiring committee chairman, for her exemplary contributions to the UGC in the past years.
"Dr Lam has devoted selflessly to the development of our higher education sector. Under her distinguished leadership, the committee has successfully completed a number of important tasks, including the Higher Education Review in 2002. She has also helped nurture a pool of successful academic and research talent for Hong Kong, and provided valuable advice to the sector on internationalisation and the implementation of the '3+3+4' academic structure," he said.
Professor Li also expressed his gratitude to the three retiring committee members - Sir Brian Fender, Professor dr Frans A van Vught and Dr Steven Poon Kwok-lim.
"The achievements of the committee over the past years owe much to their sterling support," Professor Li said.
The Chief Executive has also re-appointed/appointed the following members to the University Grants Committee:
Re-appointment:
* Professor Wee Chow-hou, Chairman of the Nanyang Executive Programs, Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (from April 1, 2007 to March 31, 2009)
New appointments:
* Mrs Pamela Chan Wong Shui, Chief Executive, Consumer Council (from April 1, 2007 to March 31, 2010)
* Professor Willard Fee, Edward C. and Amy H. Sewall Professor of Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery, Stanford University Medical Center, USA (from January 1, 2007 to March 31, 2010)
* Professor Malcolm Grant, President and Provost of University College London (from April 1, 2007 to March 31, 2010)
* Chairman, Quality Assurance Council of the University Grants Committee (ex-officio member of committee)
The main function of the committee is to provide impartial and expert advice to the Government on the development and funding of higher education in Hong Kong, as well as provide assurance to the Government and the community on the standards and cost-effectiveness of the operations and activities of the committee-funded institutions.
Ends/Friday, March 23, 2007
Issued at HKT 12:17
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