CUHK
News Centre

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) will confer honorary doctorates on the following three distinguished persons at its 72nd Congregation to be held on Thursday, 6 December, in recognition of their outstanding contributions in their respective areas of achievement to educational, academic and cultural progress, the promotion of community welfare, and the development of CUHK.

Prof. Richard Charles LEVIN is currently President of Yale University and Frederick William Beinecke Professor of Economics. He received his Ph.D. from Yale in 1974 and served in various leadership positions before becoming President in 1993. He is the longest-serving Ivy League president. Recognized as one of the leaders of American higher education, Professor Levin has made significant contributions to the international expansion of Yale University, the enhancement of its science and engineering programmes, and campus construction and expansion. Collaboration between Yale University and CUHK has been established for several decades. The Yale-CUHK Programme for Chinese Studies began in 1991 and the two universities also have maintained faculty and student exchange programmes through New Asia College and Chung Chi College. Research collaborations in engineering, humanities, and natural sciences have resulted in fruitful outcomes. The University will confer upon Professor Levin the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, in recognition of his exceptional contributions to higher education. As Professor Levin is unable to attend the Congregation, the degree will be conferred in absentia.

Prof. Bell YUNG is Professor Emeritus of Music at the University of Pittsburgh. A specialist in Chinese traditional music and culture,  Professor Yung has published over sixty scholarly papers and ten books on Cantonese opera, Cantonese folk songs, music of the seven-string zither qin, ritual music, cultural rights, and biographies and translations. His former students now teach in some of the world’s top universities. Highly devoted to the understanding and promotion of music and related scholarly activities, he was the founding president of the Association for Chinese Music Research and the Deyin Qin Society, and has served as president of the Conference on Chinese Oral and Performance Literature, council member of the Society for Ethnomusicology and the American Musicological Society, and member of the board of directors of the Society for Asian Music. Professor Yung’s association with CUHK started when he was appointed Lecturer in the Department of Music. He was later appointed External Examiner and invited to serve on the advisory board of the Institute of Chinese Studies. In 2010, Professor Yung was invited to be the Ch’ien Mu Lecturer of New Asia College and delivered public lectures celebrating the local Cantonese musical culture of Hong Kong. In recognition of his remarkable contributions to the study, teaching, and promotion of Chinese music, the University will confer upon Professor Yung the degree of Doctor of Literature, honoris causa.

Fr. Alfred J. DEIGNAN is a Jesuit priest who has dedicated his life to education and the holistic development of young people. In 1997, together with a group of committed educationalists, Father Deignan established the Hong Kong International Institute of Educational Leadership, of which he is currently Chairman, to foster a community which lives in harmony and sets a high standard of moral behaviour. He has made significant contributions to the community by serving in various capacities in education and social service organizations. He received the Commendation for Community Service Award from the Hong Kong Government, and was named one of the ‘Hong Kong Loving Hearts 2011’. Father Deignan has taken care of the spiritual needs of the Catholic students and staff members of CUHK, by offering Sunday mass since 2004 in the chapel of Adam Schall Hall, a student hostel at United College. The University will confer upon Father Deignan the degree of Doctor of Social Science, honoris causa, in recognition of his lifelong contributions to the development of education in Hong Kong and in Asia.