Tam Sheung-wai (1934 – 1 January 2021)

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, GBS, JP () was the President

Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

The Open University of Hong Kong Hong Kong Metropolitan University (HKMU, previously known as the Open University of Hong Kong) is a public university in Ho Man Tin, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is the only self-financing university set up by the Hong Kong government. The universi ...

. He is widely recognised for his many contributions towards the development of

distance education Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance; today, it usually involves online ...

in Hong Kong. He was also the Chairman of the College Council of

St. Paul's Co-educational College St. Paul's Co-educational College (SPCC; ) is an Anglican secondary school located at 33 MacDonnell Road, Mid-Levels, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1915 as a girls-only school until the outbreak of World War II, after which it was converted int ...

Early life

Tam received bachelor's and master's degrees in science from the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of ...

. In 1964, he obtained a PhD in chemistry from the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

Career

Tam joined

Chung Chi College The Chung Chi College is one of the constituent colleges of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, a public university in New Territories, Hong Kong. The college is one of the three original colleges that joined to form the CUHK in 1963. F ...

, part of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), as a chemistry lecturer in 1965. He served as head of the Chinese University's graduate school from 1981 until 1993, and as a pro-vice-chancellor of the university from 1990 to 1994. Tam retired from CUHK in 1995, the same year he was appointed president of OUHK. Tam retired from the presidency in November 2003.

References

1934 births 2021 deaths Heads of universities in Hong Kong Alumni of the University of Hong Kong Alumni of the University of Nottingham Fellows of Robinson College, Cambridge Officers of the Order of the British Empire Academic staff of Hong Kong Metropolitan University Members of the Selection Committee of Hong Kong {{HK-bio-stub, Tam, Sheung Wai

Early life

Career

See also

References