Preceded by Charles Kao Name Arthur Li Children Alexander Li, Peter Li Role Administrator Parents Tze-ha Wu, Fook-shui Li | Spouse Diana Chester (m. ?–2013) Siblings David Li Nephews Adrian Li | |
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Chancellor Lord Patten of BarnesTung Chee-hwa Born 27 June 1945 (age 79) ( 1945-06-27 ) Relations Pui-choy Li (great grandfather)Fook-shui Li (father)Tze-ha Wu (mother)David Li (brother)Athena Li (granddaughter) | ||
Education University of Cambridge | ||
Arthur Li Kwok-cheung, GBM, GBS JP (Chinese: 李國章; born 27 June 1945) is a member of the Executive Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and was Secretary for Education and Manpower from 2002 to 2007. He is the grandson of the co-founder of the Bank of East Asia, Li Koon-chun, and brother of its current chairman, David Li.
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Life and career
An alumnus of St. Paul's Co-educational College and a classmate of Professor Lawrence J. Lau, Li received his medical training at the University of Cambridge. He was subsequently trained at Middlesex Hospital Medical School and Harvard Medical School, before returning to Hong Kong to become the founding chairman of the Department of Surgery and Dean of Medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Li's tenure as Secretary for Education and Manpower was marked by an era of education reforms that included the School-Based Management Policy. Since 2000, the Education and Manpower Bureau has implemented a number of mandates, including having teachers spend more time with students outside the classroom, adding exams for subjects such as English and history, and ordering that teachers take benchmark assessments to prove their language abilities. Li ostensibly retired from public service in 2007.
In the role, he caused controversy by proposing mergers first between Chinese University and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and later between Chinese University and the Hong Kong Institute of Education.
Li's appointment by CY Leung to the governing board of the University of Hong Kong in 2015 has been met with strong criticism, particularly from academic staff (mostly pro-democrats): a poll has shown most to have little to no confidence that Li will uphold academic freedom. Further, Li's general attitude towards staff has been said to be 'hostile' and 'critical'.
Six months later, when it became known that Li was likely to take over the chairmanship of the Council upon the expiry of the term of Edward Leong on 6 November, there was further strong opposition, with 87 percent of members of HKU Academic Staff Association and almost three-quarters of members of the Professional Teachers Union opposed, due to his stance during the University of Hong Kong pro-vice-chancellor selection controversy.
Reputation
His leadership style has seen him being referred to as "King Arthur" or even "the Tsar".
Personal life
He was married to Diana Chester, a registered nurse and graduate of New Hall College, Cambridge University who died in 2013. He has two sons.
Appointments
Before his appointment, Li was Vice-Chancellor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), as well as: