The University of Macau (UM) today (28 November) held the Ceremony for the Conferment of Honorary Degrees and Higher Degrees 2015. Honorary doctorates were conferred on three distinguished individuals, namely the renowned entrepreneur Mr Ma Iao Lai, the distinguished educator Prof Lap-chee Tsui, and Prof Zhong Nanshan, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering Division of Medical and Health Engineering. Graduation certificates were awarded to graduating students of PhD programmes, master’s programmes, and postgraduate diploma/certificate programmes. Dr Tam Chon Weng, secretary for social affairs and culture of the Macao SAR and representative of the chancellor of UM, officiated at the ceremony. Tam said that UM’s education model will effectively improve the quality of education offered by the university and the quality of higher education in Macao.

Tam said in his speech that it has become evident over the past year since UM’s relocation that the new campus, equipped with a variety of state-of-the-art facilities, provides a beautiful, comfortable, multicultural, and intellectually stimulating environment in which students can live and study, and the wholesome ambience on the campus will help students develop independent and critical thinking skills, as well as positive character traits. Tam added that the combination of the residential college system and the faculty-based system will no doubt effectively enhance the overall quality of education offered by UM, and will also likely bring about an improvement in the quality of higher education in Macao. Therefore, Tam said, the SAR government now has higher expectations for UM, and it is the government’s hope that UM will confidently work towards its goals in the future. 

Rector Wei Zhao said in his speech that this year UM conferred honorary doctorates upon three distinguished individuals, namely Mr Ma Iao Lai, Prof Lap-chee Tsui, and Prof Zhong Nanshan. They are all accomplished individuals in their fields: Mr Ma is a successful entrepreneur, Prof Zhong an accomplished scientist and Prof Tsui a distinguished educator. The three individuals serve as role models for students to emulate. They are also perfect examples of people who know themselves well. They know what they do best and do those things with commitment. They exemplify the two pairs of values UM works hard to instil in the students: innovative ideas and applications, and globalism and patriotism.

UM Vice Rector (Administration) Dr Alex Lai said in his citation for Ma Iao Lai that Mr Ma is a prominent business figure in Macao, and his contributions to Macao’s business development are many and varied. Mr Ma has helped local small- and medium-sized enterprises to expand their business to mainland China and seek closer regional collaboration. He actively promotes bilateral trade relations between China and Portuguese-speaking countries by leveraging the unique advantages of Macao. He has offered valuable suggestions for economic development in Macao. He is also an active philanthropist, and has made a tremendous contribution to promoting medical development and medical education in Macao.

UM Vice Rector (Academic Affairs) Prof Lionel Ni said in his citation for Prof Lap-chee Tsui that Prof Tsui is famed for his achievements in human genetics. In 1989, Prof Tsui identified the defective gene in cystic fibrosis, the discovery of which offered new hope for diagnosis and treatment. The finding has been hailed as the most important breakthrough in human genetics in the past 50 years. He made another life-saving medical contribution when he used his international network and resources to isolate the SARS coronavirus during the SARS outbreak in 2003. He led a team of Hong Kong scientists to take part in an international collaborative project, which completed the first comprehensive catalogue of human genome variations. He served as the president and vice-chancellor of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) for 12 years. Under his leadership, HKU became a world-class university with significant advancement in research.

Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences Director Prof Wang Yitao said in his citation for Prof Zhong Nanshan that during the SARS epidemic, Prof Zhong and his team developed a treatment which appreciably increased the survival rate of the critically-ill patients in Guangdong province. He has also played an instrumental role in the establishment of the State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, and the State Clinical Research Centre of Respiratory Disease, in 2007 and 2013 respectively. He has led and participated in the creation of guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of bronchial asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cough, SARS, and highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). He was the first to refine the definition of ‘asymptomatic asthma’, which was later adopted by the World Health Organization, through his originally designed ‘simple bronchial provocation test’ and epidemiological surveys.

Prof Lap-chee Tsui delivered a speech on behalf of this year’s honorary degree recipients. Prof Tsui said that the world needs scientists, but equally it needs talented people in the humanities, arts, and many other non-science areas. This intellectual cross-fertilisation is important not only at the society level but also at the individual level. With globalisation comes a greater demand for people with multiple skills. The role of higher education in a knowledge economy is to produce high-calibre professionals who can meet the different needs of society. However, in addition to creating and disseminating knowledge and helping students develop professional skills, universities also need to fulfil another role, which is to instil positive values in the students. Prof Tsui congratulated UM, on its commitment to providing a multifaceted education to students, on having a beautiful campus and a good learning environment, and, most importantly, on having all the support and resources to become a great university.

Honorary degrees for Prof Mario Capecchi and Prof Pai Hsien-yung will be conferred separately. 



Source: Communications Office
 


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