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World-renowned scholars recruited as UM’s RC masters

1:binary?id=CqodYsk9PnDnf4aMULe7yfwE_2BEAu_2BzRmsU5DCBA0RCs_2BTZf3y_2BscpdrWQOod1qrVgs27Mi_2FYCZo_3D:World-renowned scholars take helm of UM’s residential colleges
World-renowned scholars take helm of UM’s residential colleges
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The University of Macau (UM) is pleased to announce globally that on its vastly expanded and newly erected campus, it is also implementing Asia’s most comprehensive residential college (RC) system. Such a system shares the spirit of successful “students life-experiences” of many elite universities in the Western world.

Besides attracting the best and the brightest students, a successful ingredient of a RC system is that it is “mastered” by individuals who are intellectually profound and consider nurturing young minds as a high priority. To this end, after several years of global search, UM was able to announce that to date it has successful recruited nine outstanding scholars with rich managerial experience and a passion for education. With these new masters at the helm, the RCs are poised to assist UM to produce exemplary global workforce for the 21st century.  

These nine individuals are Prof Liu Chuan Sheng, an authority on plasma astrophysics; Prof Chung Ling, a prolific and significant writer; Prof David Pong, a well-known East Asian historian; Prof George Watt, a literary scholar; Prof Liu Chung Laung, an authority on computing machinery; Prof Yip Ming Chuen, an expert on the mechanics of materials; Prof Kevin Thompson, a renowned musician; Prof Kenneth Leung, a scholar of communication law and ethics; and Prof Iu Vai Pun, an expert in structural mechanics.

Prof Liu Chuan Sheng, founding master of Chao Kuang Piu College, is an authority on plasma astrophysics. He was formerly president of Central University in Taiwan and professor in the University of Maryland’s Department of Physics. He was also the first Chinese to serve as the vice president of the University of Maryland. Prof Liu has made groundbreaking contributions to the theory of laser-plasma interaction. He is also known for his contributions to international collaborations in higher education. He was a recipient of the University of Maryland’s Distinguished International Service Award.

Prof Chung Ling, founding master of Cheng Yu Tung College, is a renowned fiction writer, poet, and scholar of China-West comparative literary studies. She has served at Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) as dean of the Faculty of Arts, chair professor, and associate vice-president. During her service at HKBU, she founded the International Writers Workshop and the Dream of the Red Chamber Award: the World’s Distinguished Novel in Chinese.

Prof David Pong, founding master of Choi Kai Yau College, is a veteran historian. He has taught at universities in Britain, the United States, Australia and Hong Kong. He was a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence in the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s (CUHK) Department of History and Centre for East Asian Studies, and a Scholar-in-Residence in China Studies at HKBU. He was the editor-in-chief of the four-volume Encyclopedia of Modern China, which received the Dartmouth Medal Honorable Mention for the best reference work published in 2009. 

Prof George Watt, founding master of the Henry Fok Pearl Jubilee College, is a renowned literature scholar with distinguished achievements and rich experience in teaching, research and management. Before joining UM, Prof Watt had accumulated more than nine years of experience in managing and heading residential colleges. He was the head of three different residential colleges in Australia, namely the Ursula Hall and Fenner Hall of the Australian National University, and the International House at the University of Queensland. In Japan, he was dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Asian Studies at the Nagoya University of Commerce and Business and was founding professor of comparative culture at Komazawa University’s Hokkaido campus.

Prof Liu Chung Laung, founding master of Lui Che Woo College, is a world-renowned computer scientist and educator. He has made significant contributions in the areas of real-time systems, computer-aided design of VLSI circuits, combinatorial optimisation, and discrete mathematics. He was president of Tsing Hua University in Taiwan, and associate provost of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has received numerous awards, including the Phil Kaufman Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ (IEEE) Council on Electronic Design Automation, the IEEE Gustav Robert Kirchhoff Award, the Technical Achievement Award from the IEEE’s Circuits and Systems Society, the Technical Achievement Award from the IEEE’s Real Time Systems Technical Committee, and the IEEE Education Medal.

Prof Yip Ming Chuen will assume office as the Master of Lui Che Woo College next year. Prof Yip has held a number of senior administrative positions at Tsing Hua University in Taiwan for 27 years, including senior vice president and dean of student affairs. Prof Yip is an expert on the mechanics of materials, with more than 30 years of experience in teaching and research. His research interests include fatigue of metallic and composite materials, plasticity, and experimental mechanics. He was chairman of the Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics in Taiwan. He is now president of the Asian Australasian Association for Composite Materials.

Prof Kevin Thompson, founding master of the Moon Chun Memorial College, is a renowned musician, composer and conductor, with outstanding achievements in promoting the arts, cultural exchange, and the development of the creative industry. He was director of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, chairman of the Royal West of England Academy, and director of the Dartington College of Arts. He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen's New Year Honours List 2011 and a French Knight, Officier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, on nomination of the former French minister of culture and communication Frédéric Mitterrand in 2012.

Prof Kenneth Leung, founding master of Shiu Pong College, is a veteran scholar of press law and journalism ethics. He was chairperson of Hang Seng Management College’s Department of General Education. During his time at the CUHK, he served as professor of journalism and communication and the New Asia College’s dean of students and senior college tutor. He was the first scholar of journalism and communication to introduce public opinion polls on public affairs into Hong Kong. He was also the first to develop a full 3-credit course in media ethics and another in communication laws in Hong Kong at the CUHK. His book on communication laws was the first of its kind published in Hong Kong.

Prof Iu Vai Pan, founding master of the Stanley Ho East Asia College, is an expert in structural mechanics. Prof Iu was a former rector of UM. His research interests mainly include finite element method, nonlinear vibrations, and computational methods. He was the first scholar from Macao to be elected fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers. In 2008 he received the Medal of Distinguish Service from the Macao SAR government in recognition of his contribution to higher education in Macao.

“Creating and implementing an RC system for UM is a monumental undertaking,” UM Rector Wei Zhao said. “It is human engineering of a grand scale that has not been tried at such a scale in universities in the East Asian region. RC system successfully instituted in outstanding universities in the West has impacted western societies throughout the last millennium, and this impact will continue. For sure, I am confident that in the foreseeable future, students emerging from UM’s RC could be a formidable global workforce in the 21st century who could make a greater contribution to Macao, China and the world.” 


Media Contact Information:

Communications Office, University of Macau

Albee Lei   Tel:(853) 88228004

Kristy Fok  Tel:(853) 88228006

Email:prs.media@um.edu.mo

UM Website:www.umac.mo


17/11/2014