The University of Macau (UM) will hold the Ceremony for the Conferment of Honorary and Higher Degrees 2019 on Saturday 9 November at 4:00pm in the University Hall. During the ceremony, the university will confer honorary doctorates on Qiao Xiaoyang, Lau Sin Peng, Dennis Lo Yuk Ming, and Roy Chung Chi Ping, in recognition of their outstanding achievements and significant contributions to social development and education. In addition, PhD degrees and master’s degrees will be presented at the ceremony. 

Qiao Xiaoang participated in or was in charge of the drafting or amending of dozens of laws, including the Amendment to the Constitution. He has served as an adjunct professor at the National Academy of Governance and Tsinghua University, as well as the honorary director of the Academic Committee of the Center for Hong Kong and Macao Research at Tsinghua University. In relation to the promotion of and education on the Basic Law of the Macao SAR, Qiao explained to Macao residents the importance of the landmark Amendment to the Constitution, as well as the relationship between the Constitution and the Basic Law. He was also responsible for studying and handling the legal issues regarding the central government’s approval of the construction of a new UM campus on Hengqin Island. Therefore, Qiao was a contributor to the legislation for the reform and opening-up of China and a key facilitator of UM’s new campus project.

Lau Sin Peng’s education career has spanned over half a century. She attaches great importance to students’ education, teachers’ rights, and the development of private schools. Her insightful input on many education issues have been invaluable to the education sector. Lau once served as the director-general of the Chinese Educators Association of Macau, overseeing all the activities organised by the association. She was also the editor-in-chief of the association’s publication Macao Education. In addition, Lau represented the association as a member of the advisory committee for the recognition of academic qualifications earned in Macao and as a member of the Council of Education of Macao. One of her works, A History of Education in Macao, published in 1999, has laid the foundation for the study of the history of local education.

Dennis Lo Yuk Ming is a clinical expert in molecular biology. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of the United Kingdom and a foreign associate of the United States National Academy of Sciences. Lo was the first to discover the presence of fetal DNA in maternal plasma and to translate this discovery into a platform for non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT). The diagnostic methods have changed the practice of fetal screening and the NIPT has been adopted by more than 90 countries. For this reason, Lo is widely considered to be the father of NIPT. He has been acknowledged by many prestigious awards nationally and internationally for the profound impact of his research on medical development and research worldwide. Lo made the Top 20 Translational Researchers List, released by the world-renowned scientific journal Nature Biotechnology, in 2016 and 2017, with a ranking among the top five in 2017.

Chung Chi Ping is a self-made man, an industry leader, and the founder of a world-leading company of power tools for home and industrial use. Techtronic Industries Company Limited (TTI), a company he co-founded, is one of the market leaders in producing power tools. In terms of the production volume of rechargeable battery-operated power tools, TTI is in a leading position and Chung is nicknamed ‘The King of Power Tools’ by the media in Hong Kong. Chung was appointed chairman of Hong Kong Vocation Training Council (VTC) in 2018. Under his leadership, VTC plays an increasingly prominent role in the education system of Hong Kong, providing the younger generation with quality and diversified progression pathways. He was appointed by the Hong Kong SAR government as Justice of Peace in 2005, and received the Bronze Bauhinia Star (BBS) and the Gold Bauhinia Star (GBS) from the Hong Kong SAR government in 2011 and 2017, respectively.

During the ceremony, more than 1,000 students in PhD degree programmes, master’s degree programmes, and postgraduate certificate/diploma programmes will receive their graduation certificates. These students come 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 Chinese Medical Sciences, and Institute of Applied Physics and Materials Engineering.