The contributions that President Way Kuo of City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has made over the last 15 years were applauded by the Chairman and all members of the Council at a meeting on 23 March. Attending the Council for the last time as President, Professor Kuo gave a brief presentation on the University’s substantial achievements during his highly successful tenure.

Retiring from the presidency in May 2023, at the end of his third term, President Kuo is the most experienced current president among the eight UGC-funded universities. At the Council meeting, Council Chairman Mr Lester Huang and Council members personally commended President Kuo for his outstanding leadership and his commitment to achieving excellence over the past 15 years. In particular, he led CityU to establish the Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences and offer the first 6-year Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine programme in Asia designed to meet strenuous international accreditation standards. Members heaped praise on President Kuo, commenting on his warmth and friendliness and the reputation he has built for mixing with students and alumni. They also praised President Kuo for his dedication and outstanding ability in fundraising over the years and launching HK Tech 300, a large-scale innovation and entrepreneurship programme, supporting the development of CityU and its community. 

President Kuo expressed his gratitude to current and former Council Chairmen and Council members, especially the current Council Chairman, for their trust and support and for leading CityU to become one of the fastest-growing universities in the world. 

In addition, at its meeting on 21 March, over 100 Senate members gave President Kuo a standing ovation for over two minutes after Dr Kevin Downing, Council Secretary, proposed a vote of thanks following President Kuo’s final presentation as president. At the same time, at its meeting on 24 March, all members of the Management Board stood and applauded for a long time, thanking President Kuo for his contributions over the years.

The integration of teaching and research and the separation of politics and education are two core values that President Kuo has promoted throughout his leadership. Over the past 15 years under his leadership, CityU has gone from strength to strength. Its first-class teaching and research teams have repeatedly received international recognition and our overall rankings continue to rise. CityU is ranked 1st in Asia and Hong Kong for academic citations, in terms of the ratio between faculty and total citations, and has garnered the highest amount of research funding from mainland China among all UGC-funded universities.

At the abovementioned meetings, President Kuo took time to express his thanks to the CityU management team and all CityU staff for their united efforts, particularly CityU faculty for demonstrating CityU’s strengths in teaching and research and propelling CityU to become a truly world-class university. He expressed his belief that CityU would continue to scale new heights under the leadership of the new President, Professor Freddy Boey.

About City University of Hong Kong

As one of the fastest-growing universities in the world over the last decade, CityU is recognised as a hub for innovation in research and professional education. Our world-class faculty champion the integration of teaching and research and consistently excel across many key international indicators for research excellence. Focusing on our core mission, we are committed to promoting knowledge and contributing to society through outstanding teaching and research. 

Media enquiries: Helen Mok, Communications and Public Relations Office, CityU (Tel: 3442 6827 or 9859 3321)