| Rayson Huang | |
|---|---|
| Life Member of the Court of HKU | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 9 January 1987 Serving with Sir Yuet-keung Kan, Sir Ti-liang Yang and Dr. Victor Fung |
|
| Vice Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong | |
| In office 1972–1986 |
|
| Preceded by | Prof. Kenneth E. Robinson |
| Succeeded by | Prof. Gungwu Wang |
| Vice-Chancellor of the Nanyang University | |
| In office 1969–1972 |
|
| Preceded by | Prof. Huang Ying-jung |
| Succeeded by | Prof. Shou-sheng Hsueh |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 September 1920 |
| Spouse(s) | Grace Li |
| Alma mater | BSc (HKU) DPhi, DSc (Oxf) DSc (UM) |
Rayson Huang, CBE (Chinese: 黃麗松; pinyin: huáng lì song, 1 September 1920-),[1] a chemist,[2] expertise at Chemistry on radicals. He was the first Chinese Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong from 1972 to 1986.[3]
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Shantou, Guangdong native. He completed primary and secondary education in Munsang College, where his father was the founding principal.[4][5] He later attended St. John's University in Shanghai in 1937, but his studies were interrupted by Japanese occupation (see the Marco Polo Bridge Incident ) and after 1938 he continued his stuides with a scholarship student at the University of Hong Kong. In Hong Kong Huang majoring in chemistry at St. John's Hall (now called St. John's College). In addition to his academic studies, Huang was an accomplished violinist. Following the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong in 1941, Huang was briefly worked with British auxiliary forces and was responsible for detecting chemical weapons. In 1942 his studies at the University was interrupted when the school was forced to close. Rayson Huang returned to China in 1942 and arrived in Guangxi. By 1945 Huang followed other members of the University of Hong Kong chemistry department to Britain and received a scholarship to study at the Oxford University's Institute of Chemistry. He received at doctorate in chemistry in and then pursueed his post-doctoral research at the University of Chicago. During his study in Chicago, he met his wife Grace Wei Huang and eventually married her.
In 1951, Rayson Huang taught chemistry at the University of Malaya in Singapore (now called National University of Singapore) and in 19 he was transferred to University of Malaya's Kuala Lumpur campus. He became a tenured professor of chemistry and later as acting Vice-Chancellor and Dean of the Faculty of Science.
In 1969 Huang was appointed as Vice-Chancellor at Nanyang University in Singapore.
In 1972, Rayson Huang became the first Chinese Vice-Chancellor of University of Hong Kong and quelled students demonstration during the Royal visit to Hong Kong. In addition, he served in various capacities including becoming a member of the Basic Law Drafting Committee in drafting Hong Kong's post handover constitution. Rayson Huang and his wife retired in 1994 and went to live with their son.
By 1999 the Huangs' returned to Hong Kong, his wife suffering from senile dementia. She died in Hong Kong.
To commemorate his wife's life, Rayson Huang established the Grace Wei Huang Memorial Fund.[6] and has written a book on memoirs, A Lifetime in Academia: An autobiography by Rayson Huang, which will be set aside for the fund.
Rayson has a wide range of hobbies, one of the most special is studying violin making. He returns to Hong Kong on a regular basis. Huang also established the Progress of Hong Kong's Rayson Huang and the "Rayson Huang Foundation." in Malaysia.[7]