History of the University

The year 2002 marks the 65th anniversary of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. In launching a series of celebratory activities on this occasion, we wish to commemorate the past achievements and contributions of the Institution and at the same time pledge our commitment to the future. Over the past decades, the Institution has made longstanding contributions to the advancement of Hong Kong's economy. It has pioneered the provision of application-oriented education in Hong Kong, grooming more than 200,000 young men and women since its inception. Surveys in recent years have consistently found our graduates to be of the highest practical value to employers; and we are proud to have won positive recognition of our management excellence and the substantial progress made on many fronts. We hope that members of the community will share our joy and sense of pride, and join us in strolling down memory lane to review our 65 years of education and innovation.   The Beginnings The origins of this Institution can be traced back to 1937 with the founding of the Government Trade School. Situated in Wood Road, Wanchai, the School was the first publicly funded, post-secondary technical institution in Hong Kong. Under Principal Mr G. White, it ran classes in building, mechanical engineering and marine wireless operating. After World War II, the School became the Hong Kong Technical College in 1947, offering both full-time and part-time courses. Nine years later, backed by a $1 million donation from the Chinese Manufacturers' Association, the Government provided a similar sum and a site in Kowloon and began construction of a new building for the College. The year 1957 saw the Governor, Sir Alexander Grantham, open the new premises of the College in Hung Hom.   In 1965 Dr S.Y. Chung (now Sir S.Y. Chung), in a speech to the Legislative Council, said that the time has come to consider establishing a polytechnic-type institution in Hong Kong. A Polytechnic Planning Committee (pictured below) was later set up in May 1969 under the chairmanship of the late Dr Tang Ping-yuen. Following the Government's acceptance of the Committee's Final Report, the Hong Kong Polytechnic Ordinance came into force on 24 March 1972, and the first Board of Directors of the Polytechnic (renamed "Polytechnic Council" in 1978) was formed under the chairmanship of Dr Chung. At the invitation of the Board, the Governor Sir Murray MacLehose (now Lord MacLehose) agreed to be the first President of the Polytechnic. Mr Charles Old was appointed the Polytechnic's first Director. The Polytechnic Days The Hong Kong Polytechnic was formally established on 1 August 1972, taking over the campus and staff of the Hong Kong Technical College. Its mandate was to provide application-oriented education in meeting the community's need for professional manpower. In the academic year 1971/72, before its work was handed over to the Polytechnic, the Technical College had just over 1,700 full-time day, 740 part-time day release and 9,340 part-time evening students in eight teaching departments. In October 1976, Sir MacLehose opened the first new building of the Polytechnic, later named The Tang Ping Yuan Building as a tribute to the late Dr Tang. With most of the College's courses at technician and craft levels already transferred to the Morrison Hill Technical Institute established in 1969, the new Polytechnic started off focusing on achieving teaching standards appropriate to a Polytechnic. Since then, the Polytechnic has undergone extensive development and rapid expansion. The Institution launched its first five degree programmes in 1983, and introduced its first MPhil and PhD programmes in 1986 and 1989 respectively.     Having gained approval from the University and Polytechnic Grants Committee for self-accreditation of degree programmes, the Institution assumed full university status on 25 November 1994, changing its name to "The Hong Kong Polytechnic University". An inaugural ceremony and dinner was held in January 1995. An Esteemed University Today, PolyU is a fully-fledged institution of higher learning and remains the largest publicly funded tertiary institution in terms of student population. At the dawn of this new millennium, the total student enrolment on taught programmes exceeded 16,800, with 11,500 being full-time students and the rest part-time students. The research student population stood at about 900. With 26 academic departments and three centres grouped under six faculties, PolyU offers a broad range of application-oriented programmes at levels ranging from higher diploma and bachelor's degrees through to master's and doctoral degrees. In addition, the University set up its School of Professional Education and Executive Development (SPEED) and Institute for Enterprise (IfE) in 1999 to further strengthen the self-financing continuing education and professional services it offers to business, industry and the community. Another breakthrough came in June 2000, when PolyU launched The Hong Kong CyberU (HKCyberU), the first Hong Kong-based university in cyberspace. Co-founded with Pacific Century CyberWorks (PCCW), HKCyberU is an advanced learning institution offering PolyU programmes on the Internet. Along with its steady growth in stature, the PolyU campus has evolved to its present size of about 93,500 square metres. In support of the all-round development of students, the University's student hostels, located close by the campus in the Hung Hom Reclamation Bay, will be opened shortly to offer a total of 3,004 hostel places. The Way Forward The impressive success of our first 65 years would not have been possible without the support of the Government and the community at large. Mindful of our responsibility to repay society, we have already embarked on our new Strategic Plan, themed "Creating a Competitive Edge for our Students and the Community". In this knowledge-driven 21st century, we are determined to enhance the all-round development of our students, to raise the profile of our research and postgraduate studies, and to further develop management excellence as well as a culture of quality and innovation on campus. With shared vision and commitment, the University is well prepared to move further ahead with pride, confidence and enthusiasm.