The Shaw Prize Foundation is pleased to announce a transition in its Council membership, effective 1 May 2025. Professors Wai-Yee Chan and Pak-Chung Ching will be stepping down as Council Members after 12 years of distinguished service, while Professors Ming-Chung Chu, Zhi-Quan Luo and Justin Wu will join the Council, seamlessly assuming the roles vacated by the outgoing Members to uphold the Prize’s mission of recognising groundbreaking scientific achievements.
Professor Wai-Yee Chan is currently Pro-Vice-Chancellor/Vice-President, Li Ka Shing Professor of Biomedical Sciences and Director of the Institute for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). An expert in developmental genomics and molecular genetics of endocrine disorders, Professor Chan previously held professorship at Georgetown University Medical Center and served at the National Institutes of Health in the US. Since joining the Shaw Prize Council in 2013, Professor Chan has played a pivotal role in the management of the Prize, ensuring its smooth operation and providing expert guidance, particularly for the Prize in Life Science and Medicine.
Professor Pak-Chung Ching, Director of Shun Hing Institute of Advanced Engineering and Research Professor of Electronic Engineering at CUHK, is an expert in adaptive digital signal processing, advanced signal processing techniques for wireless communications and other related fields. Professor Ching has been integral to the Shaw Prize since its inception, serving on the Preparatory Committee in the early 2000s to help establish the Prize. He rejoined as a Council Member in 2013, significantly contributing to its ongoing development and success.
Professor Chan and Professor Ching will continue to support the Shaw Prize as advisors to the Council, ensuring their wealth of experience remains a vital resource for the Prize. The Foundation extends its heartfelt thanks to the pair for their many years of dedicated service.
Joining the Council are three esteemed scholars, Professors Ming-Chung Chu, Zhi-Quan Luo, and Justin Wu, who bring expertise in Astronomy, Mathematical Sciences, and Life Science and Medicine, respectively.
Professor Ming-Chung Chu is the Choh-Ming Li Professor of Physics at CUHK. His research interests include astrophysics, cosmology, and particle physics. Professor Chu was one of the co-founders of the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment, and is currently the leader of the Hong Kong Cluster of the ATLAS Experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, CERN.
Professor Zhi-Quan Luo is currently the Vice President (Academic) at CUHK-Shenzhen and the Director of the Shenzhen Research Institute of Big Data (SRIBD). Renowned for his contributions to applied mathematics and information science, Professor Luo has received numerous awards for his groundbreaking work.
Professor Justin Wu is the Associate Dean (Health Systems) of Faculty of Medicine, CUHK. He has academic focus in functional gastrointestinal disorders and gastroesophageal reflux disease with more than 38,000 citations. Professor Wu has made major contributions to medical education, pioneering the cooperation between Western and Chinese medicine in the healthcare system.
The addition of Professors Chu, Luo and Wu, alongside the continued leadership of Professor Kenneth Young, Dr Raymond Chan and Professor Reinhard Genzel, ensures the Shaw Prize will maintain its rigorous standards in celebrating transformation contributions to science and humanity.
The Foundation looks forward to the Council’s continued guidance as it furthers its mission – “For the benefit of humankind”.
