Professor Alex Jen Kwan-yue, the new Provost of City University of Hong Kong (CityU), takes up his new position aiming to improve CityU’s international reputation and recognition, enhance the professional education on offer, and seek fresh ways to ensure that CityU is meeting the needs of society.

 

A renowned scientist and eminent leader, Professor Jen received his bachelor's degree from National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan and PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in the US. He was the Boeing-Johnson Chair Professor and Chair of the Department of Materials Science & Engineering at the University of Washington, Seattle. He also served as Chief Scientist for the Clean Energy Institute endowed by the Washington State Governor.

 

“I am delighted about joining CityU at such an exciting stage of its development,” said Professor Jen, who was named by Thomson Reuters as one of the "World's Most Influential Scientific Minds" in 2015 and 2016 in the area of materials science.

 

“As Provost, I intend to help CityU advance as an international hub for top-quality professional education and research, and identify the best possible ways that we can collaborate across disciplines to bring together all our strengths,” he said. “It is important that we continue to meet the needs of society and make sure that the programmes we offer align with what employers require in terms of training and experience.”

 

Professor Jen has co-authored over 600 publications, given over 450 invited presentations, has more than 29,000 citations and an H-index of 88, and is co-inventor for more than 50 patents and invention disclosures. His research interests are interdisciplinary, specialising in organic/hybrid functional materials and devices for photonics, energy, sensors, and nanomedicine.

 

He is a Fellow of the Materials Research Society and the American Chemical Society, among others, and an Academician of the Washington State Academy of Sciences. He has demonstrated capability in technology transfer and fundraising, and is the founder of the Institute of Advanced Materials for Energy (i-AME) at the University of Washington.

 

“We are very fortunate to have such a talented and internationally renowned figure such as Professor Jen joining CityU,” said Professor Way Kuo, CityU President. “He is not only a major figure in his field of research; he also has a great deal of administration experience in the upper echelons of tertiary education leadership.”

 

Professor Jen will be involved in academic planning, quality assurance, institutional analysis as well as academic matters ranging from overseeing CityU’s unique Discovery-enriched Curriculum and internal funding to teaching awards.