University of Chicago opens campus in Hong Kong

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The University of Chicago (UChicago) has opened its Hong Kong Campus to serve as a regional hub for research, education and collaboration, according to a report released on the school's website.

The university held a ceremony to celebrate the opening of its Hong Kong Jockey Club University of Chicago Academic Complex, or the UChicago Francis and Rose Yuen Campus, in China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) on November 30.

"We are proud to open the Hong Kong campus, which represents a long-term commitment by the University of Chicago to a wide range of academic collaborations and other efforts that will make a positive social impact in Hong Kong (SAR) and Asia," said UChicago President Robert J. Zimmer during the ceremony.

"It will be the next intellectual destination in the region, where scholars, researchers, students and alumni from around the world can benefit from many forms of intellectual exchange and engagement with the most pressing issues of our time," he said.

UChicago HK SAR campus will also act as a home for the UChicago Booth School of Business's Executive MBA degree program and Booth Executive Education non-degree courses for local professionals. More than 100 students have already started their 21-month executive MBA programme on the campus.

File photo of the University of Chicago /VCG Photo

Moreover, the site will host activities from across the UChicago, including academic workshops, conferences and public lectures as well as the University's undergraduate study abroad programs.

The campus will host academic collaborations among universities and institutions in Hong Kong and the region such as the research partnership and exchange program between the University of Chicago and Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Peking University.

Investing in 586 million HK dollars (75 million U.S. dollars), it takes the university more than two years to turn the former Victoria Road Detention Centre at Mount Davis into the 53,000 sq ft modern academic complex.

The newly-built three-floor main building can hold about 400 students. The other two are restored from the site's original historic buildings. Together, they provide four classrooms, two to three multifunctional rooms and meeting rooms, and 15 group study rooms.

To preserve the historical site, the green entrance, white walls and courtyard retain in original. Former Jail-cells-turned classrooms reserve the traces on the ceiling and ground. And an heritage museum is also set to showcase the related artifacts.

The school is scheduled to open to the public since December.

(Cover: File photo of Hong Kong skyline /VCG Photo)

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency