Y.C. Cheng

Vice-Chancellor
University of Hong Kong

Professor Y.C. Cheng, CBE, JP, is Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong. He obtained his B.Sc. degree at the University of Hong Kong (1963) and his Ph.D. at the University of British Columbia (1967). He is a chartered engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Electrical Engineers (U.K.), the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (U.S.).

Professor Cheng engaged in teaching and research in North America until 1978, working at the University of Waterloo, Bell-Northern Research, and the Xerox Research Centre. During this period he invented and developed the "HCL-Oxidation technique," a means of growing ultra-clean oxides for silicon-based electronic devices, which has since been adopted worldwide by the silicon chip industry. In 1978 Professor Cheng returned to Hong Kong as Lecturer in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Hong Kong; he was appointed Dean in 1987. In 1989 Professor Cheng became Director of the City Polytechnic of Hong Kong. When the City Polytechnic was renamed the City University of Hong Kong in January, 1995, he became its first Vice-Chancellor. In 1996 Professor Cheng became Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong.

Professor Cheng is also active in a number of public advisory bodies: the Preparatory Committee for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Hong Kong Affairs; the Accreditation Board of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers; the Board of the Hong Kong Industrial Technology Centre Corporation; the Industry and Technology Development Council; the Board of Overseers for the Institute of Biotechnology; the Vocational Training Council; the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Hong Kong Section; and the Disciplinary Panel of the Hong Kong Society of Accountants.