The University of Macau (UM) will hold an honorary doctorates conferment ceremony at 10:30 on 25 Nov in its Cultural Centre to confer honorary doctorates upon four distinguished individuals, namely Father Lancelote Miguel Rodrigues, Prof. Wang Xiaodong, Dr. Wong King Keung, and Prof. Xu Jialu, in recognition of the outstanding achievements the four have attained in their fields. Dr. Chui Sai On, chief executive of Macao SAR and chancellor of UM, will preside over the ceremony. In addition to the conferment ceremony, UM will also hold a Doctor honoris causa Lecture Series, by Prof. Wang Xiaodong, Dr. Wong King Keung and Prof. Xu Jialu.
This year UM will continue to confer honorary doctorates upon distinguished individuals in recognition of their contributions to society. UM will confer Doctor of Humanities honoris causa upon Father Lancelote Miguel Rodrigues, Doctor of Science honoris causa upon Prof. Wang Xiaodong, Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa upon Dr. Wong King Keung, and Doctor of Humanities honoris causa upon Prof. Xu Jialu.
Father Lancelote Miguel Rodrigues was the director of the US-based Catholic Relief Services in Macao. Currently he is the director of the Secretariate of the Diocesal Services for Social Welfare Macao. He has championed a wide range of successful welfare programmes in the region, with aid from international agencies. He has rendered welfare services to the Macao community, to China and to the international community for more than five decades. His work in conjunction with diplomatic representatives of Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States has earned him great respect from the international diplomatic community. And as a result of these relationships, he has been appointed as these countries’ consular representative in Macao. Over the years he has been awarded a number of prestigious honours at national and international levels, including the Order of the British Empire, the Order of Australia, and the Order of Infante D Henrique, of the Portuguese Republic.
Prof. Wang Xiaodong is a world-renowned biochemist and a member of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States. He served as a researcher at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, US, and a chair professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. Currently he is the co-director of the National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing. He has published more than 50 research papers in top international academic journals such as Nature, Science and Cell, with citation frequency exceeding 20,000. He holds a dozen patents for invention granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Dr. Wong King Keung is one of the three founders of the University of East Asia (the predecessor of UM). He was the University Council representative in charge of estate construction and development and supervised the design and construction of the university campus including all related infrastructure. In 1992, he was instrumental in the establishment of the Asia International Open University of Macau and has since served as the chairman of the Administrative Council. Currently, he is also a member of the University Assembly of UM and a board member of the School of Professional and Continuing Education of the University of Hong Kong. He was awarded the Bronze Bauhinia Star and the title of Justice of the Peace by the Hong Kong SAR government.
Prof. Xu Jialu is a renowned contemporary linguist. He was with Beijing Normal University (BNU), successively holding posts of full professor in the Department of Chinese, head of the department, dean of the Faculty of Chinese, and vice president of the university. In December 1997, he was elected chairman of the China Association for Promoting Democracy Central Committee. At the first session of the ninth National People’s Congress (NPC) held in March 1998, he was elected vice chairman of the NPC Standing Committee. He is currently the chairman of the State Language Commission, director of BNU’s Advanced Institute of Humanities and Religion, dean of BNU’s College of Chinese Language & Culture, and director of the Advanced Institute for Confucian Studies, Shandong University. He has made great contributions in various areas such as scholium and the study of the ancient Chinese dictionary Shuowen Jiezi. He is dedicated to public welfare and cultural causes. He is the founding director-general of the China Social Assistance Foundation.
In addition to the honorary doctorates conferment ceremony, UM will also hold a Doctor honoris causa Lecture Series between 24 Nov to 25 Nov to give students and the general public a chance to interact with the recipients of the honorary doctorates. The first lecture “The history and development of Macao’s higher education starting from the University of East Asia”, by Dr. Wong King Keung, will take place at 11:00 on 24 Nov (Wednesday) in HG03, Ho Yin Convention Centre, UM. The lecture will be conducted in English and simultaneous interpretation from English into Chinese will be provided. The second lecture “Macao in the Context of Economic Globalization and Cultural Diversification" by Prof. Xu Jialu, will take place on the same day at 17:00 in the Cultural Centre. The lecture will be conducted in Putonghua. The third lecture by Prof. Wang Xiaodong will take place at 17:00 on 25 Nov (Thursday) in UM’s Cultural Centre. The lecture will be conducted in Putonghua. For more details or enquiries, please contact Ms. Mandy Ip at 83974339 or visit www.umac.mo.