The University of Macau (UM) will hold the Ceremony for the Conferment of Honorary and Higher Degrees 2017 on Saturday 11 November at 4:00pm in the University Hall. During the ceremony, the university will confer honorary doctorates on Academician He Jingtang, Professor Henry T. Yang, and Professor Binglin Zhong, in recognition of their outstanding achievements and significant contributions to society and education. In addition, PhD degrees and master’s degrees will be presented at the ceremony.

As one of those pivotal figures who undertake to promote traditional Chinese architecture, Academician He has a passion for the exquisite South China Lingnan architectural features which he has been working hard to preserve and sustain since the 60s of the last century. He secured his guru status in architecture when, on the back of traditional Lingnan aesthetics, he creatively formulated his own theoretical system. Signified by what is known as the ‘two concepts’ and ‘three characters’, the theory gave a shot in the arm for the Lingnan school of architecture.

Professor Yang is a world-renowned expert in structural engineering and the current chancellor of the University of California Santa Barbara. Apart from his brilliant academic achievements, Professor Yang is undoubtedly one of the great educationists in higher education of the United States. He is regarded as being in the same league as Charles Eliot, the president of Harvard University from 1869 to 1909 who famously turned it into a top university in the world as we know it today.

Professor Zhong is a renowned educator with significant contributions to the development of higher education and scientific research. He is currently the president of the Chinese Society of Education, an honorary vice president at Cardiff University, and a professor at Beijing Normal University. Professor Zhong has also served as the director-general of the Department of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education of China.

During the ceremony, more than 1,000 students of PhD degree programmes, master’s degree programmes, and postgraduate certificate/diploma programmes, from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Faculty of Business Administration, Faculty of Education, Faculty of Health Sciences, Faculty of Law, Faculty of Science and Technology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Applied Physics and Materials Engineering, and Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences will receive their graduation certificates.