Hong Kong Metropolitan University (HKMU) will confer honorary doctorates to three distinguished academics in recognition of their valuable achievements and exceptional contributions to academia and society.
The recipients are Dr Jing Degang, Prof. Yuk-Shan Wong, and Prof. George Woo Chi-shing. The conferment ceremony will be held on 1 December.
Brief profiles of the three recipients are as follows (in alphabetical order):
Dr Jing Degang
( Doctor of Education, honoris causa)
Dr Jing Degang is currently the Secretary of the Party Committee and President of the Open University of China, which offers continuing education to members of society and has around 4.88 million students to date.
Dr Jing graduated from Jilin University with a PhD in Political Economy. As an outstanding leader in the field of education management), Dr Jing has devoted much of his time to serving various important positions in the Ministry of Education (MOE) for years, including the Deputy Director of the Department of Higher Education Student, the Deputy Director of the Qinghai Provincial Department of Education (Youth) and Inspector I of the MOE. In June 2020, he was appointed a member of the Second Education Digitalization Expert Group of the Ministry of Education.
Dr Jing has played an instrumental role in implementing the national open education reform in the country. He has actively visited many open universities to promote the reform, emphasizing the essence of the transformation and learning from enterprises, traditional universities and advanced open universities in the process. Thanks to his valuable contributions, the open education system has been successfully turned into a platform for online, flexible education and foreign cooperation, marking a significant milestone in the history of the development of open universities and lifelong education in the country.
Prof. Yuk-Shan Wong, SBS, BBS, JP
(Doctor of Social Sciences, honoris causa)
Prof. Yuk-Shan Wong is the Chairman of Research Grants Council and Emeritus President of The Open University of Hong Kong (now Hong Kong Metropolitan University).
Prof. Wong was educated locally and later obtained his PhD in Plant Biochemistry from McGill University of Canada in 1979. After his return to Hong Kong in 1980, Prof. Wong pursued his academic career in several local higher education institutions and had taken up a number of important roles including the Vice President for Institutional advancement and Chair Professor of Biological Sciences at City University of Hong Kong, and the Vice President for Administration and Business at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. In 2014, he was appointed President of The Open University of Hong Kong. Under his able leadership, the University underwent remarkable development on multiple fronts, including the establishment of seven research institutes/centres, significant expansion in full-time undergraduate student population, and the completion of the Jockey Club Institute of Healthcare. Prof. Wong retired from the University in 2021.
Prof. Wong’s research interests lie in the areas of environmental biotechnology, plant biochemistry and mangrove conservation/utilization. In addition to scientific research, he has also been heavily involved in the policy-making of basic education, the development of local higher education system and other public services over the years through numerous positions. Prof. Wong is currently a Hong Kong Deputy to the National People's Congress.
Prof. George Woo
(Doctor of Social Sciences, honoris causa)
A world-renowned leader in optometry and vision science, Prof. George Woo has a significant impact on global eye health. He received his Doctor of Optometry degree at the University of Waterloo in Canada, and obtained his MSc and PhD degrees in Physiological Optics from Indiana University in the United States. He is a Fellow and a Diplomate in Low Vision of the American Academy of Optometry.
Prof. Woo started his academic career in the University of Waterloo in 1970 and retired as Professor Emeritus in 1996. From 1987 to 1990, he played a pivotal role in promoting the development of optometry when he was serving as the founding Head and Professor of the Department of Diagnostic Sciences of the then Hong Kong Polytechnic, where he earned the title Emeritus Professor from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2011.
Besides serving on numerous local and international optometry, health and research committees, Prof. Woo is also a passionate volunteer of The Samaritan. Apart from looking after patients with physical impairment, he also extended his concern towards the mental health of people. He later became the Chairman of The Samaritans' Board of Directors from 2015 to 2019, leading it in expanding the scope of services to protect lives.
Prof. Woo’s eminent accomplishments in optometry, as well as altruistic devotion and full display of humanitarian spirit were highly remarked. He was awarded the “Hong Kong Humanity Award 2020” from Hong Kong Red Cross in 2020.
