Professor Jin-Guang Teng appointed as the next PolyU President

The Council of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) today announced the appointment of Professor Jin-Guang Teng, currently a Vice-President, Dean of Graduate School and Chair Professor of Southern University of Science and Technology, as its new President with effect from 1 July 2019. Joining PolyU in 1994, Professor Teng has a long association with the University.

The University started the global search for a new President upon confirming that the former President Professor Timothy W. Tong would retire by the end of December 2018. A Search Committee chaired by Council Chairman was formed last February, with representatives from the Council and staff members, and a headhunter has been engaged to support the exercise. After rounds of selection and deliberations, the Search Committee resolved to recommend Professor Teng to be the next PolyU President. Professor Teng today attended two sharing sessions, with colleagues and students respectively, to articulate his vision for the University and to answer their questions. The appointment was approved by the Council at its meeting in the afternoon today.

Professor Teng considers the appointment a great honour for him and is well aware of the huge responsibilities of and the demanding expectations for the post. He looks forward to contributing to the University on multiple fronts. He pledges to work closely with various stakeholders of the University to turn its education and research vision into reality. In addition to providing the best holistic education for students and supporting colleagues to realise their potentials, Professor Teng will strive to enhance the academic standing and the impact of PolyU in Hong Kong and the world. He will also ensure that the University will be a world leader for a significant number of disciplines and will develop strong education and research programmes in emerging areas such as robotics and artificial intelligence. Establishing a foothold in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) will be one of the University's focuses. He said, "With the various opportunities brought about by the development of the Greater Bay Area, Hong Kong's higher education sector is keen to establish its foothold there. I am committed to making PolyU a key player in this cause, setting examples of how education and research collaborations between institutions of Hong Kong and other GBA cities can best serve the long-term interest of the Area."

Born in Wenzhou, China, Professor Teng received his BEng Degree from Zhejiang University in 1983. He pursued further study in Australia and received his PhD Degree from the University of Sydney in 1990. He spent about two years as a visiting PhD student and then a researcher at the University of Edinburgh, UK, from 1989 to 1991. From 1991 to 1994, he served as a Lecturer and then a Senior Lecturer at James Cook University of North Queensland. He joined the then Hong Kong Polytechnic as Lecturer in the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering in October 1994 and rose through the ranks at PolyU to become a Chair Professor in January 2005. He has served in various academic leadership roles at PolyU over the years, including Associate Dean of Faculty of Construction and Land Use (October 2005 – August 2006), Associate Vice President (September 2006 – June 2010), Dean of Faculty of Construction and Land Use/Faculty of Construction and Environment (September 2007 – June 2013) and Director of Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development (January 2012 – June 2018).  

A well-accomplished and distinguished scholar in the field of structural engineering, Professor Teng has authored/co-authored one book and over 210 SCI journal papers. His publications have been widely cited by researchers around the world, and many of his research findings have been adopted by relevant design codes/guidelines in China, Australia, Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States.

His outstanding academic achievements have earned him numerous accolades, local and overseas. He was elected in 2017 as Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which is the highest academic title in the field of science and technology in China, Corresponding Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2015, and Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences in 2013. He won the State Natural Science Award of China (Second Class) in 2013 and Distinguished Young Scholar Award from the National Natural Science Foundation of China in 2004. At PolyU, he was the recipient of The President's Award for Excellent Performance /Achievement (Research and Scholarly Activities) in 2015.    

Council Chairman Dr Lam Tai-fai said, "The Council is delighted to have Professor Teng to be PolyU's next President. We are confident that Professor Teng, with his outstanding academic standing, effective leadership and management abilities, and his good understanding of PolyU, the local and the Mainland environments, in particular, the higher education sector, will be able to set a clear and viable vision for PolyU's future development and steer the University to scale new heights."