70th Congregation (2011)

It is often said that good news isn’t news at all.  So we often don’t think about how fortunate we are to be alive in age in which some of the major physical ailments that afflict mankind such as cardiovascular disease and stroke are becoming more and more preventable and treatable, thanks largely to medical science. And thanks to those who support medical science, such as the S H Ho Foundation, which has made significant donations to our University’s Department of Medicine and Therapeutics for the purpose of research into these diseases.  For reasons such as these the Chinese University is proud today to be honouring    Dr Ho Tzu-leung, Director of the S H Ho Foundation, who has contributed to the University’s development in many different areas over many years.

Dr Ho himself is a distinguished urologist.  He obtained the degree of Doctor of Medicine at the Chicago Medical School in 1966.  He did his internship and general surgery training at Kaiser Foundation Hospital and became a member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Manitoba in 1968.  He then underwent post-doctoral urological surgery training at Stanford University Medical Centre from 1968 to 1972 and gained his Board Certificate from the American Board of Urology in 1976.  In 1977 he was awarded a Fellowship by the American College of Surgeons.  He has been for many years a medical practitioner in the United States, Singapore and Hong Kong.  He was the urology consultant to the Hong Kong Baptist Hospital and the Hong Kong Buddhist Hospital from 1972 to 1984 where he ran charity clinics at both hospitals for over 10 years.

As Director of the S H Ho Foundation and Director of the Board of Bethlehem Management Limited, Dr Ho has dedicated himself to improving medical services around the world.  He has made frequent contributions to the medical field, through his support of tertiary institutions in Hong Kong, mainland China, the United Kingdom and the United States.  Dr Ho has also committed his personal energies to the development of higher education.  He currently serves as member of the University Council and Chairman of the Committee of Overseers, S H Ho College of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Director of the Hang Seng Management College, Hong Kong, and Extracurricular Advisor of Yuanpei College, Peking University.

Dr Ho and his family have demonstrated an ongoing commitment to the development of community services and tertiary education through the S H Ho Foundation.  Over the years, they have consistently given generous support to various local universities, where one can find teaching facilities, student hostels, research units and endowed professorships named after Dr Ho’s late father – Dr S H Ho.  In 2011, the S H Ho Foundation approved a donation to support the establishment of the S H Ho Centre for Digestive Cancers in the CUHK Faculty of Medicine.  Dr Ho himself was instrumental in the setting up of the S H Ho Sleep Apnoea Management Centre, the Clinical Herbal Medicine Trial for Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease, and a Medical Faculty Exchange Programme between CUHK and Stanford University.  These gifts will go a long way towards enhancing physician training, public education, clinical research and services, thus benefiting both patients and the community at large.

As a medical specialist by profession, Dr Ho takes a keen personal interest in promoting medical research in Hong Kong’s two medical schools, those of The Chinese University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong University.  In recognition of his dedication both universities have conferred Honorary Fellowships upon him, in 2006 and 2009 respectively.

In recent years, Dr Ho has cultivated particularly strong ties with CUHK.  Sponsorship for the establishment of the Dr and Mrs Tzu Leung Ho Honour Society of the Faculty of Medicine was donated from Dr Ho’s own charity fund, the Dr Tzu Leung Ho Charitable Foundation.  Every year the Honour Society selects students with outstanding academic performance to become its members and awards them, by way of recognition, gold, silver and bronze medals.  Dr and Mrs Ho have also established scholarships for medical and nursing students who are members of S H Ho College.  The scholarships ensure that the students, who are chosen on ability, can complete their studies without the burden of financial difficulties.

Through the S H Ho Foundation the University has benefited by way of student hostels at the three founding Colleges, as well as the building of the Madam S H Ho Hostel for Medical Students and its extension at the Prince of Wales Hospital.  The Foundation also donated funds for the building of a non-residential hall for students at New Asia College and, among many other things, has contributed towards the establishment of the S H Ho Professorship of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, S H Ho Professorship of Visual Sciences, and C N Yang Visiting Professorship Fund.  In 2006, the University received generous support from the S H Ho Foundation towards the establishment of the S H Ho College which was officially opened in October this year.  The College is home to 600 students who can enjoy the congenial living and learning environment on a fully residential and communal dining basis.

The Ho family has also established the Ho Sin Hang Education Endowment Fund at the Chinese University, of which Dr Ho is a Trustee.  This Fund has played a very significant part in the support of research at this University, across many disciplines.  Key in the ‘Ho Sin Hang Education Endowment Fund’ and the first thirty or so items captured by a computer search engine will be research papers and home pages in which CUHK scholars acknowledge the support of the Fund in enabling their work.  The projects span the whole range of programmes at CUHK, including such diverse areas as business studies, architecture, computer engineering, English literature and psychiatry.  Such funding is of incalculable benefit to the consolidation of research at the University and a much-needed supplement to funds supplied by the Research Grants Council.

Mr Chancellor, it is my privilege to present to you Dr Ho Tzu-leung, distinguished urologist, supporter of medical research and benefactor of the University, for the award of the degree of Doctor of Social Science, honoris causa.

This citation is written by Professor David Parker