Prof Lijing Zhu
Prof Lijing Zhu joined HKUST in late September 1991. By the time when he arrived in HK, the campus was just ready to open for classes with Phase-One Construction more or less completed.
Left for Singapore in early 1999, Lijing taught at the NUS for more than two years and then visited HKU for one year before returning to HKUST at the end of 2002.
This time Lijing assumed an administrative position of recruiting non-local students, first international, then focusing on the Mainland, and gradually extended to include Taiwan.
With his extensive experiences, Lijing started working in SAO in 2011, helping students from the Mainland to adapt to the new environment and at the same time, exploring opportunities for HKUST students in the Mainland.
Starting 2014, Lijing took up an additional task of romoting entrepreneurial spirit and culture among HKUST students on campus and beyond by assisting Entrepreneurship Center for its further development.
What was HKUST like in 1991 ? Prof Lijing Zhu leads you through the time tunnel to two decades ago.
“Looking back now, the first-year experience at HKUST was rather unique and fascinating. SBM had about 15 faculty members to start with and Economics and Finance coexisted in the same department. There were no more than 80 faculty members in the 4 Schools altogether and that number, I believe, also included President, Vice Presidents, Deans and Department Heads. Because of the sheer small size, at least partially, for those outgoing ones, almost everybody knew everybody else. I often had lunch or supper with students in LG1 and saw there more than once Prof Woo Chia-Wei, the Founding President, having meals with students or junior faculty members. A good and ardent basketball player, Chia-Wei played regularly with staff/faculty team either on Wed evening or Saturday morning. At least three Deans played on the court as well, though not on the same day. Some of the players, and many non-players, later became Prof, Chair Prof, Department Head, Associate Dean, Dean, Vice President or President, at HKUST or in other universities.
As a new university aiming high, “MIT in Asia” as mentioned by Chia-Wei repeatedly in the first 2 years, HKUST, young and energetic, attracted many who have the disposition of pursuing excellence relentlessly and daringly. As far as I know, a colleague in SCI who joined in 1993, instead of focusing on his PhD thesis for a quick publication, decided to crack a really hard problem that eventually resulted in a theorem bearing his last name and that of a professor at Harvard. Moreover, a colleague in SENG who came also in 1993 started his own company in 2001 with a patented technology he himself invented. After having attracted sufficient external funding in 2006, he gave up his tenured position so as to concentrate on developing his startup only for the better.
Furthermore, in the process of establishing Institute of Advanced Studies, similar to that one which is near Princeton University, President Paul Chu was constantly reminded that it was difficult, if not impossible. His reply was simple: If it is easy why should we do it? Recently, I came to know that, rather than just a few, many HKUST students and alumni did do things pretty unconventional, including those of starting their own businesses after graduation and some even before that.
Looking ahead today, as well as I can see and without any doubt, given the distinctive spirit and culture nurtured from the very beginning, HKUST will continue to attract many more to participate in our endeavor of pursuing excellence in a relentless and daring manner.”