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Dr Chung Chi-yung, Vice-President and Principal, and Dr Henry Hu Hung-lick, President of Hong Kong Shue Yan University, were both born in 1920 in China. Dr Chung was the first female judge in modern China while Dr Hu commenced his career as a diplomat. Soon after their marriage, the unstable situation in China prompted the couple to choose to study abroad. Moving to France, they both gained a doctoral degree in Law there. Dr Hu attained further qualifications, becoming a barrister in the UK, before the couple returned to the region in 1955 and settled in Hong Kong.

Until the late 1960s, Dr Chung devoted herself to higher education, working with United College and Chung Chi College of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Chu Hai College as well as Baptist College.

In addition to his law practice, Dr Hu also served as a Legislative Councillor. Elected as a member of the Urban Council and subsequently becoming its Vice Chairman in the 1970s, Dr Hu emerged as one of the few local Chinese to be involved in Hong Kong’s political scene at that time. Dr Hu advocated a fairer system in the territory, and was notable for his contribution in promoting Chinese as one of the city’s official languages.

Noticing the acute shortage of places for high school students seeking university education, the couple decided to invest all that they had in the establishment and operation of Shue Yan College in 1971. Their aim was to provide opportunities for aspiring young people to pursue tertiary education while furthering the interests of the community. Believing in their vision and their conviction that a four-year programme would benefit their students, Shue Yan has repeatedly been excluded from the government’s higher education subsidy scheme in view of its refusal to adjust to a three-year programme. However, coupled with their hard work and perseverance, Shue Yan College received due recognition, becoming Shue Yan University in 2006. Emerging as the first private university in Hong Kong, the institution marks an important milestone on the local higher education landscape.

Professor Xu Jialu is a leading linguist in China today. Throughout his career, he has been heavily involved in Chinese linguistics, the study and critical explanation of ancient texts, and Chinese information processing. He is a prolific author, passionately devoted to the education and development of Hanyu (Chinese Language). In 1986, the State Council of China conferred the title “Middle-aged and Young Expert with Outstanding Contribution” on Professor Xu. Having participated in

the formulation of China’s Compulsory Education Law enacted in 2006, he actively promotes equal education opportunities for all school age children on the Mainland. In Hong Kong, he has made an enormous contribution to the development of Putonghua language training.

Professor Xu graduated from Beijing Normal University (BNU) with a BA degree in the study of Chinese Language and Literature in 1959. Since then, he has served in various teaching and administrative capacities at his alma mater for over four decades. He was Vice President and Professor from 1987 to 1994, and is now Dean of the College of Chinese Language and Culture at BNU. At the same time, he served as Vice Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Beijing Municipal Committee and as a member of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC). He was Chairman of the State Language Work Committee from 1994 to 1997 and has been a Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the NPC since 1998.

In 1995, HKIEd organised a short-term Putonghua immersion programme in Beijing. The HKIEd group, both students and staff, were the first batch of Hong Kong participants to take part in such a course on the Mainland. The programme’s academic host was the State Language Work Committee, which was headed by Professor Xu at that time. In view of its success and with Professor Xu’s support, we signed a collaborative agreement with the Committee in 1997 to establish the HKIEd Putonghua Training and Testing Centre, which, over the years, has greatly helped to improve the quality of Putonghua teacher training in Hong Kong.

Distinguished scholar Professor Ference Marton, is currently serving as Professor Emeritus at the University of Goteburg in Sweden. He has made an important contribution to educational research with his exploration of the impact of teachers on student learning – demonstrating that what students learn in different classes is closely linked to how teachers structure the contents of each lesson.

Born in Hungary, Professor Marton moved to Sweden when he was 17, where he obtained his credentials including a DSc at the University of Goteburg. He served as Professor of Education in the University from 1977 to 2006, subsequently becoming Professor Emeritus at the

institution. He has successfully supervised the research work of more than 50 PhD students and authored over 200 research publications. His pioneering work in Phenomenography and the Variation Theory of Learning has also inspired over 150 PhD theses and a further 1,500 publications. Professor Marton won the Swedish Teachers’ Union Award in 2006 for his contributions to the integration of theory and practice in education. In 2007, he received the 2007 Oeuvre Award from the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI). He also received Honorary Doctorates from the University of Edinburgh in 2000 and the University of Helsinki in 2003.

As an Advisory Professor at HKIEd between 2004 and 2006, his work on Learning Studies has been invaluable in shaping the successful work of our Centre for Learning-study And School Partnership (CLASP). Together with the collaboration of his colleagues, Professor Marton’s association with CLASP has allowed over 270 schools and thousands of teachers and students to benefit directly from the Centre’s projects in Learning Studies.