Chief Executive Chui Sai On has accepted the University of Macau (UM)’s recommendation to appoint Song Yonghua as the ninth rector of UM. He will assume office on 9 January 2018, the university said on Friday.
According to the university council of UM, the recruitment for the next rector began in March 2017. A number of consultation forums were held to collect the views of alumni, staff and students, as well as members of the university council. Through a global search and deliberations, the university council finally voted unanimously to recommend Prof. Song.
The university council said Prof. Song has held a number of leadership positions at British and Chinese universities, and is particularly familiar with the development and operation of higher education institutions in Europe, the United States and Asia.
A world-renowned scholar in electrical engineering, Song received his PhD from the China Electric Power Research Institute. In 1997, he was appointed Professor of Power Systems at Brunel University and later as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Graduate Studies at Brunel University in 2004. The latter appointment made him the first Chinese scholar assuming a senior management position at a British university.
According to Xinhua, Song returned to China as Professor of Electrical Engineering at Tsinghua University in 2009 and was appointed assistant president in the same year. Currently, he is the executive vice president of Zhejiang University.
