IPCC chair Priscilla Wong to take helm of HKU Council

Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Friday appointed barrister Priscilla Wong as the new chairwoman of the Council of the University of Hong Kong.

Wong, who chairs the Independent Police Complaints Council and the Minimum Wage Commission, will begin her three-year term from January 1, replacing Arthur Li.

Education Secretary Kevin Yeung welcomed Wong’s appointment.

“As a committed leader in society, Ms Wong has excellent capability and ample experience in extensive areas. I am confident that HKU will continue to scale new heights with Ms Wong at the helm,” he said.

Meanwhile, HKU president Professor Zhang Xiang said Wong has made significant contributions as a council member.

“We are delighted that she has been appointed to help steer the strategic direction of the university’s governance in the coming years,” he said.

Both Yeung and Zhang thanked Li for his almost six-year leadership at HKU.

“Under his sterling leadership, HKU capitalised on its position as one of the world’s top-tier universities by attracting and nurturing global scholars through excellence in research, teaching and learning, and knowledge exchange,” Yeung said.

“HKU also actively engaged itself with the mainland and other parts of the world to deepen internationalisation with brilliant results. On behalf of the government, I would like to express our sincere gratitude to Professor Li for his longstanding leadership and contributions.”

For his part, Li said the university’s international ranking had continued to rise during his term and discipline and moral standards were instilled.

“I specially want to thank our many benefactors and supporters for their generous contributions and pledges so that we have received a record amount of donations during these past years. We have instilled discipline and moral standards within our university community. I see a great future for this university in the coming decade,” he added.