Officiating Guests
Mr SZE Chun-fai, Jeff, JP
Under Secretary for Education, Education Bureau, HKSAR Government
Mr SZE Chun-fai, Jeff, JP
Under Secretary for Education, Education Bureau, HKSAR Government
Mr Jeff Sze has been the Under Secretary for Education of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China since July 2022. He supports the Secretary for Education of the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the administration of all education affairs in Hong Kong.
Before taking up the position of Under Secretary for Education, he had been the Political Assistant to the Secretary for Education for 10 years. He has a deep understanding of Hong Kong’s education system. Prior to joining the government, he served as a secondary school teacher and conducted policy research in a think tank.
Professor James TANG
Secretary-General, University Grants Committee (UGC)
Professor James TANG
Secretary-General, University Grants Committee (UGC)
Professor Tang has served in senior academic and management positions in local and overseas universities and possesses rich management experience in higher education institutions. He was Dean and Professor of Political Science at the School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University (SMU), from 2011-2018 and from 2014 concurrently served as Special Adviser to the President of SMU on Greater China affairs.
Before assuming his position at SMU, Professor Tang had served in the University of Hong Kong and was the Head of the Department of Politics and Public Administration from 1999. During 2002 to 2006, he was the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, and from 2007 to 2010, he was Professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration while serving as Director of the Master of International and Public Affairs Programme. Over the years, he also held visiting appointments at renowned universities in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and on the Mainland.
Professor Jan THOMAS
Chair, Quality Assurance Council of UGC
Professor Jan THOMAS
Chair, Quality Assurance Council of UGC
Professor Jan Thomas has been Vice-Chancellor of Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University in Aotearoa New Zealand since 2017. Prior to this Professor Thomas served as Vice-Chancellor and President at the University of Southern Queensland in Australia. She has held various senior executive positions at Murdoch University and the University of Notre Dame Australia. She has a PhD in Veterinary Science from Murdoch University and has taught, researched and published in Veterinary Pathology.
Globally, Professor Thomas holds various senior positions, including: External Reviewer and Quality Auditor for the Oman Authority for Academic Accreditation and Quality Assurance for Education; Chair of the Quality Assurance Council Hong Kong; Member of the University Grants Committee Hong Kong; and Convenor of the Bachelor Veterinary Medicine Task Force for University Grants Committee Hong Kong.
She recently completed a term as Chair of Universities New Zealand, and in late 2022 became the Association for Tertiary Education Management Aotearoa New Zealand Patron.
She has been learning te reo Māori since arriving in Aotearoa New Zealand, completing te reo Māori to level 5 at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa. She’s currently studying towards a Bachelor of Arts in Māori Knowledge.
Word of Support (pre-recorded message)
Professor Marilee Bresciani LUDVIK, PhD
Associate Provost and Director of the Office of Institutional Effectiveness, Loyola University Chicago
Professor Marilee Bresciani LUDVIK, PhD
Associate Provost and Director of the Office of Institutional Effectiveness, Loyola University Chicago
Marilee Bresciani Ludvik, PhD serves as Associate Provost and Director of the Office of Institutional Effectiveness at Loyola University Chicago. Formerly, she served as chair and professor of the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Department at the University of Texas Arlington. Prior to that, she served as Professor of Postsecondary Educational Leadership at San Diego State University, Assistant Vice President of Institutional Assessment at Texas A&M University, and in a variety of student affairs, academic affairs, and alumni relations leadership roles at various types of institutions. Dr Bresciani Ludvik also served as a Faculty Fellow within the Office of Curriculum, Assessment, and Accreditation as well as the Office of Analytic Studies and Institutional Research at San Diego State, where she assisted in connecting student learning and development outcomes to equity performance indicators in a manner that can inform improvements in-class, out-of-class, and program design and delivery.
Marilee has written 13 books, published over 200 scholarly articles, and empowered over 200 institutions and their leaders on organizational learning assessment and accountability decision-making processes. In addition, Marilee assists organizational leaders in identifying and leveraging opportunities to collaborate across division lines, using mindfulness-based inquiry practices, nonviolent communication, difficult conversation practices, paradigm-busting processes, compassion practices, restorative justice, and design thinking.
Marilee is a certified meditation and yoga instructor, a certified Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute teacher (the program developed at Google), and a Qualified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction teacher on the certification path. Marilee is also a certified transformational life coach who uses the evocative method.
Dr Bresciani Ludvik co-directs the Intrapersonal Competency Cultivation Research Team that seeks to leverage students’ first-person experience to close equity gaps through the cultivation of malleable skills known to predict student success significantly. Marilee’s research specifically focuses on applying social and emotional neuroscience and mindful compassion inquiry practices to inform the design and evaluation of workshops, curriculum, and coaching to decrease students’, faculty, and administrators’ stress and anxiety while also increasing their attention and emotional regulation, cognitive flexibility, and enhancing compassion towards self and other.
Dr. Bresciani Ludvik’s work has been honored with awards such as the ACPA-College Student Educators International's Contribution to Knowledge Award in 2022, the International Association for Student Personnel Pillar of the Profession Award in 2012, the International Association for Student Personnel George Kuh Award for Outstanding Contribution to Literature/Research in Higher Education in 2013, the American College Personnel Administrators Diamond Honoree in 2016, the UNESCO/MGIEP Senior Research Fellow in 2017, and the International Association for Student Personnel Robert H. Shaffer Award for Academic Excellence as a Graduate Faculty Member in 2019. She has also recently been inducted into the University of Texas Arlington National Academy of Inventors.
Marilee is thrilled that she gets to empower educators, staff, administrators, and student leaders to develop emotional awareness so they can positively transform their lives and the lives of those they serve!
GROUP 1 PANELISTS “Presentation & Roundtable Discussions: Exemplary T&L Practices, Challenges, Partnership & Synergy”
Dr Albert CHAU
Vice-President (Teaching and Learning), Hong Kong Baptist University
Dr Albert CHAU
Vice-President (Teaching and Learning), Hong Kong Baptist University
Dr Albert Chau is Vice-President (Teaching and Learning) (2016-now) of the Hong Kong Baptist University. He is responsible for the University’s teaching and learning to achieve the best student experience and for the nurturing of caring, creative and ethical global citizens. He leads the development of curriculum and academic programmes, quality assurance, diverse pedagogies such as experiential and virtual learning, student recruitment and placement, and globalisation of teaching and learning.
Dr Chau received his BSc in Industrial Engineering and Postgraduate Certificate in Psychology at The University of Hong Kong (HKU), as well as an MSc and PhD in Psychology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA. He then taught at the Department of Psychology at HKU and was appointed as Warden of University Hall (1996-2006), Associate Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences (2000-2002), Director of General Education (2002-2015), and Dean of Student Affairs (2005-2015). He is an elected fellow of the Hong Kong Psychological Society.
Dr Chau has served on committees and panels related to secondary and tertiary education. He was appointed to the Council of Hong Kong Metropolitan University (2017-now) and several Government committees or advisory panels related to education, elderly affairs, and the environment and provided voluntary service to a few charities and NGOs on youth development, heritage preservation, and arts and culture.
Professor CHENG, May Hung May
Vice President (Academic); Chair Professor of Teacher Education, The Education University of Hong Kong
Professor CHENG, May Hung May
Vice President (Academic); Chair Professor of Teacher Education, The Education University of Hong Kong
Professor May Cheng May-hung is currently Vice President (Academic) and Chair Professor of Teacher Education of The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK). Professor Cheng began her teacher education work at the Sir Robert Black College of Education and the former Hong Kong Institute of Education, she has taken up academic leadership positions at different stages, such as Associate Vice President (Academic Affairs), Registrar, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Associate Dean (Programmes), and Programme Director. Between 2010 and the end of 2011, Professor Cheng was a Reader in Professional Education in the Department of Education at the University of Oxford, and a fellow of the Governing Body at Kellogg College.
Professor Cheng has actively participated in education services in Hong Kong. She was appointed a registered auditor of the Quality Audit Committee under the University Grants Committee (UGC), a specialist and member for institutional review by the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications, a member of the Council of the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA) and to the Curriculum Development Council. She has also served on various subject committees at the HKEAA, the Curriculum Development Committee of the Curriculum Development Institute, and the Education Committee at the Maritime Museum. Professor Cheng graduated from The University of Hong Kong with a BSc (First-class Honours) degree, a Certificate in Education (Distinction) and a Master’s in Education. She obtained a PhD at the University of Waikato, New Zealand.
Mr Albert H P CHOW
Executive Director, Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ)
Mr Albert H P CHOW
Executive Director, Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ)
Mr Albert H P Chow is currently the Executive Director of HKCAAVQ. Prior to joining HKCAAVQ, he was the Director of General Administration of Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) and has broad expertise in higher education and vocational and professional education and training (VPET) sectors in Hong Kong and neighbouring areas. Prior to joining HKBU, Mr Chow also served as the Head of Academic Quality Assurance of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Director of Qualifications cum Registrar of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE).
Internationally Mr Chow has made significant contributions to the education and professional practice agreements in the engineering and information technology fields. Over the years, he has led HKIE projects in outcome-based accreditation and out-of-jurisdiction accreditation that are recognised by international agreements under the Washington Accord, Sydney Accord and Seoul Accord. Mr Chow was also chairman/member of a number of working groups and committees set up by the Government and the sectors.
Professor Ting-Chuen PONG
Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering Vice-President for Administration and Business The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Professor Ting-Chuen PONG
Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering Vice-President for Administration and Business The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Prof. Pong joined the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST) in 1991, where he is currently a Professor of Computer Science and Engineering. He served as Acting Provost in 2019, Senior Advisor to the Provost (Teaching Innovation and E-learning) from 2013 to 2021, Associate Vice-President for Academic Affairs (Postgraduate Studies & Academic Research) from 2002 to 2010, and Associate Dean of Engineering from 1999 to 2002. He was also Acting Director of the Center for Education Innovation from 2019 to 2021 and Director of the Center for Engineering Education Innovation from 2015 to 2018. Before joining HKUST, he was an Associate Professor in Computer Science at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA.
Prof. Pong is currently a member of the Quality Assurance Council (QAC) and the Research Assessment Exercise Group of the University Grants Committee (UGC). He served as an Academic Research Advisor for the UGC from 2010 to 2012. He is currently also serving as a member of the Committee on Self-financing Post-secondary Education (CSPE) of the Education Bureau and Chair of the Sub-committee on Quality Assurance of the CSPE. He was a member of the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ) and Chair of the Qualifications and Accreditation Committee in HKCAAVQ from 2014 to 2020.
Apart from being an experienced academic administrator, Prof. Pong has been leading various projects in e-learning, including the Hong Kong Massive Open Online Courses (HKMOOC) platform for Hong Kong's Tertiary Education Sector project funded by the UGC Teaching and Learning Funding Scheme. He has also led the efforts for HKUST to become the first University in Asia to join both Coursera and edX, and launched MOOCs in 2013.
Prof. Pong received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1984. Prof. Pong is a recipient of the Pattern Recognition Society Award in 1990 and the HKUST Excellence in Teaching Innovation Award in 2001. In 2014, he led the HKUST team in the Wharton-QS Stars Awards Competition and was selected as Winner of the Natural Sciences Award and Runner-up of the Hybrid Learning Award.
(Moderator) Professor POON Wai-yin, JP
Pro-Vice-Chancellor / Vice-President (Education), Wei Lun Professor of Statistics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Chair, Hong Kong Teaching Excellence Alliance
(Moderator) Professor POON Wai-yin, JP
Pro-Vice-Chancellor / Vice-President (Education), Wei Lun Professor of Statistics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Chair, Hong Kong Teaching Excellence Alliance
Professor Poon Wai-yin is currently Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Wei Lun Professor of Statistics at The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Professor Poon obtained her BSc in Mathematics in 1983 and MPhil in Statistics in 1985 from CUHK, and PhD in Biostatistics from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1987. Professor Poon was appointed in 1987 as a Lecturer in the Department of Statistics at CUHK and promoted to Professor in 2001. She has served as Associate Dean (Education) in the Faculty of Science from 2004-2014 and Director of the Centre for Promoting Science Education from 2006-2014. She was also the Director of the Centre for Learning Enhancement and Research (CLEAR) from 2012-2015 and was appointed as Associate Vice-President in 2014 and Pro-Vice-Chancellor in 2015, exerting leadership in teaching and learning at the university level.
Professor Poon's outstanding teaching has earned her a number of accolades. She was conferred the inaugural UGC Award for Teaching Excellence by the University Grants Committee in 2011. She is also a recipient of the CUHK Faculty of Science Exemplary Teaching Award (1999-2000), (2002-2003) and (2013-2014), Best Teaching Award from the Asia Pacific Institute of Business, CUHK (2005-2006) and (2008-2009), as well as the Vice-Chancellor's Exemplary Teaching Award (2014). Professor Poon was also awarded the Outstanding Fellowship of the Faculty of Science in 2014 and 2019.
GROUP 2 PANELISTS “Presentation & Roundtable Discussions: Exemplary T&L Practices, Challenges, Partnership & Synergy”
Professor King Lau CHOW
Acting Dean of Students; Professor, Division of Life Science, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, and Division of Public Policy; Director, Centre for the Development of the Gifted and Talented; Program Director, BSc in Individualized Interdisciplinary Major Program, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Professor King Lau CHOW
Acting Dean of Students; Professor, Division of Life Science, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, and Division of Public Policy; Director, Centre for the Development of the Gifted and Talented; Program Director, BSc in Individualized Interdisciplinary Major Program, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Professor Chow received his PhD in Cell Biology from Baylor College of Medicine. He was a Belfer Fellow at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine before joining HKUST. His own research focuses on molecular genetics of body patterning, neural development, and synthetic and evolutionary biology, and he runs a laboratory with diverse model organisms. He experimented extensively with various teaching pedagogies, including exploratory project courses, MOOCs and extensive flipped classes, and was awarded the Science School Teaching Award and the Michael G. Gale Medal for distinguished teaching at HKUST. He also heads the Center for Development of the Gifted and Talented, which nurtures gifted students.
Over the years, he has set up a number of successful undergraduate and graduate programs, e.g., Mol. Biomed. Sci., Bioengineering, Individualized Interdisciplinary Major, etc. He served as Academic Director of the Common Core Program, the Director of the Interdisciplinary Programs Office overseeing the development of Environment, Sustainability, Public Policy, Technology Management, Risk Management and Business Intelligence, as well as currently as the Dean of Students.
Professor Ronald CHUNG
Dean, School of Continuing Education, Hong Kong Baptist University; Chairman, Federation for Self-financing Tertiary Education (FSTE)
Professor Ronald CHUNG
Dean, School of Continuing Education, Hong Kong Baptist University; Chairman, Federation for Self-financing Tertiary Education (FSTE)
Prof. Chung has been the Dean of School of Continuing Education at Hong Kong Baptist University since 2018. Before then, he served Vocational Training Council (VTC) as Deputy Executive Director over the years 2013-2018, responsible primarily for the policies and strategies related to education programmes at degree level and above. Over the years from 1992 to 2012, he was with the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), where he was Professor and Chairman of the Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering at his departure. Between 2009 and 2011, he was the Associate Dean of the Faculty of Engineering of CUHK. He received the CUHK Engineering Faculty Exemplary Teaching Award in 2005.
Since 2019 Prof. Chung has been the Chairman of Federation for Self-financing Tertiary Education (FSTE) of Hong Kong CHINA – a federation established in 1994 with an aim to advance the quality, promote collaboration and share good practices of the self-financing tertiary education sector, and that currently consists of close to 20 self-financing tertiary institutional members. Prof. Chung obtained a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Hong Kong, and a PhD in Computer Engineering from the University of Southern California. He is a Chartered Engineer of the UK, a Fellow of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, and a Fellow of the British Computer Society.
Professor TANG Wai Lan Gladys
Professor, Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages; Chairman, Senate Committee on Language Enhancement; Director, Centre for Sign Linguistics and Deaf Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Professor TANG Wai Lan Gladys
Professor, Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages; Chairman, Senate Committee on Language Enhancement; Director, Centre for Sign Linguistics and Deaf Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Professor Gladys Tang received her Doctoral Degree in Applied Linguistics at the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Her research interests are language acquisition and language pedagogy. Her interest in sign language research also led her to embark on a series of research projects in recent years on the linguistics of Hong Kong Sign Language, the acquisition of sign language, and the development of deaf literacy by deaf children.
She has published on second language acquisition, second language pedagogy, sign linguistics, sign language acquisition, and deaf education. She is the Director of the Centre for Sign Linguistics and Deaf Studies, Asian liaison of the International Sign Linguistics Society, and a member of the Advisory Board of Sign Language Linguistic Society.
Professor Samson TSE
Dean of Student Affairs; Centre of Development and Resources for Students, The University of Hong Kong
Professor Samson TSE
Dean of Student Affairs; Centre of Development and Resources for Students, The University of Hong Kong
Professor Samson Tse currently serves as the Dean of Student Affairs, a position he has held since September 2020. He is a Professor in Mental Health, with his home department being the Department of Social Work and Social Administration at The University of Hong Kong. Samson is a Fellow and Accredited Supervisor of the Hong Kong Professional Counselling Association. He has expertise in examining the complex mechanisms of recovery from severe and persistent mental illnesses, such as bipolar disorder and gambling disorder. In his work, Professor Tse and his multidisciplinary teams have adopted a holistic perspective that emphasizes strength and hope. This approach assists people in reclaiming meaningful life roles and living productive lives, even while managing their “condition”. Ultimately, this work aims to improve the well-being of service users, families, and caregivers.
Prior to relocating to Hong Kong, Professor Tse worked in New Zealand, specifically in Dunedin and Auckland, for over 20 years. He has authored or co-authored more than 200 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters in the fields of addiction and mental health. Professor Tse has served on government and non-governmental organization advisory committees in New Zealand, Singapore, and Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, he was a recent member of the Mental Health Advisory Committee under the Health Bureau. He currently serves as the convenor of the Research Advisory Group under the Narcotics Division of the Security Bureau, in addition to roles with several non-governmental organizations. Throughout his career, Professor Tse has held honorary or visiting professorial positions at prestigious institutions, including Yale University, the University of British Columbia, the University of Melbourne, and the University of Auckland.
Professor YAN Kit Ming Isabel
Associate Provost (Student Life) Associate Professor, Department of Economics and Finance, City University of Hong Kong
Professor YAN Kit Ming Isabel
Associate Provost (Student Life) Associate Professor, Department of Economics and Finance, City University of Hong Kong
Dr Isabel Yan joined the City University of Hong Kong in 2002 after obtaining her PhD in Economics and M.Sc. degree in Statistics from Stanford University. She served as the Associate Head of the Department of Economics and Finance from 2012-2015, the Assistant Dean of Assurance of Learning from 2015-2016, and the Assistant Dean of Business Career Development from 2016-2019. She was also the finalist for the Teaching Excellence Award at City University of Hong Kong in 2008 and 2009.
Her research specializes in international economics and applied econometrics. Her research has been published in the Journal of International Economics, Journal of International Money and Finance, Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, among others.
(Moderator) Dr Julia CHEN
Director of Educational Development; Associate Professor (Courtesy), Department of English and Communication, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Member, Hong Kong Teaching Excellence Alliance
(Moderator) Dr Julia CHEN
Director of Educational Development; Associate Professor (Courtesy), Department of English and Communication, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Member, Hong Kong Teaching Excellence Alliance
Dr Julia Chen is the Director of the Educational Development Centre at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and also an Associate Professor (courtesy) at the Department of English and Communication.
Her research interests include leveraging technology for advancing learning and teaching, English Across the Curriculum (EAC), and using learning analytics for curriculum review and quality enhancement. She is a two-time recipient of her university’s President Award for Excellent Performance, first in teaching and then in service. She is a Principal Fellow of Advance HE (PFHEA), and is awarded the lifetime designation of Distinguished Fellow by the Association for Writing Across the Curriculum. She and her EAC team were recently awarded the Hong Kong UGC Teaching Award 2022 (Collaborative Teams category) and the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Reimagine: Breakthrough Technology Innovation in Education Award, Silver prize.
She is the leader of several inter-institutional projects, including a recent one that includes all eight UGC-funded universities on best learning, teaching and assessment practices in the age of GenAI.
Breakout Session Session Chairs to Breakout Sessions
Professor CHAN, Catherine K. K.
Professor, Academic Unit of Social Contexts and Policies of Education, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong
Professor CHAN, Catherine K. K.
Professor, Academic Unit of Social Contexts and Policies of Education, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong
Professor Cecilia CHAN
Director, Teaching and Learning Innovation Centre, The University of Hong Kong
Professor Cecilia CHAN
Director, Teaching and Learning Innovation Centre, The University of Hong Kong
Professor Cecilia CHUN
Director, Centre for Learning Enhancement And Research, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Professor Cecilia CHUN
Director, Centre for Learning Enhancement And Research, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Professor Irwin KING
Director, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Fellow of IEEE, Fellow of INNS, Fellow of AAIA, Distinguished Member of ACM
Professor Irwin KING
Director, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Fellow of IEEE, Fellow of INNS, Fellow of AAIA, Distinguished Member of ACM
Professor KONG Siu-cheung
Research Chair Professor of E-Learning and Digital Competency at the Department of Mathematics and Information Technology; and Director of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Competency Education Centre, The Education University of Hong Kong
Professor KONG Siu-cheung
Research Chair Professor of E-Learning and Digital Competency at the Department of Mathematics and Information Technology; and Director of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Competency Education Centre, The Education University of Hong Kong
Dr Theresa KWONG
Director, Centre for Holistic Teaching and Learning, Hong Kong Baptist University
Mr. Marc LeBANE
Lecturer, English Language Teaching Unit, Faculty of Arts, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Mr. Marc LeBANE
Lecturer, English Language Teaching Unit, Faculty of Arts, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Dr Sean McMINN
Director, Centre for Education Innovation, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Dr Sean McMINN
Director, Centre for Education Innovation, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology