Donors, Building Names and Philanthropic Families at CityU

City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK / 城大) comprehensive information database · Module 08 Finance · Named-donor profiles

Walk through the City University campus and almost every landmark building carries a name — the Yeung Kin Man Academic Building, the Lau Ming Wai Academic Building, the Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre, the Lee Shau Kee Student Residence Village. These are not arbitrary labels chosen for convenience; they are a living map of four decades of fundraising at CityU. Purpose of this chapter: to trace every named building, chair professorship, hostel block and academic unit back to the philanthropists and foundations behind it. CityU was founded only a little over forty years ago, without the deep alumni networks of a centenarian institution; it built itself instead on applied disciplines, business education and institutionalised fundraising. To read the names on CityU's buildings and chairs is, in effect, to read its roll of donors. This chapter works through four strands — named buildings × named chair professorships × named halls of residence × named colleges/academic units — identifying the principal named donors one by one. For an overview of annual income and expenditure, see finances.md; for the history of endowment campaigns and matching grants, see endowment-campaigns-and-matching-grants.md; for the narrative version of the building-naming stories, see named-buildings-and-donor-families.md.

Editorial conventions and evidentiary discipline: this chapter sits in the neutral-fact zone (modules 00–12). Named donors are recorded by their real names, since a naming donation is itself a public act of honour. Every name, amount and date is cited in place to an official or press source. CityU does not disclose the specific amount of most named donations; wherever no official figure exists, this chapter says so honestly — "no official public figure" — and never invents one. The current chair-holders of named professorships (living scholars who are not members of the University's senior leadership) are recorded as listed on the official registry; where the incumbent is a member of the University's current leadership, the person is referred to by title only, per the editorial rules. At CityU, "College/School" means an academic faculty and has nothing to do with residence (CityU has no collegiate system; see Module 10 on faculties and the chapter on student hostels).

---

# 1. Overview: the landscape of named giving at CityU

Named giving at CityU concentrates in four types of vehicle:

1. Named buildings: three core academic towers (Yeung Kin Man; Li Dak Sum & Yip Yio Chin; Lau Ming Wai), the Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre and the Run Run Shaw Library, the Indra and Harry Banga Gallery, the Hu Fa Kuang Sports Centre, and the Jockey Club One Health Tower;
2. Named chair professorships: endowed through donor funds to attract world-class scholars — a named chair professorship is among the highest honours a university can bestow on a scholar, and a lasting tribute to the donor who established the fund^※;
3. Named halls of residence: many blocks in the Cornwall Street hostel cluster and the Pak Shek Kok student residence village carry the names of donor organisations or individuals (see the chapter on student hostels);
4. Named colleges/academic units: the Chow Yei Ching School of Graduate Studies, the Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences.

Co-ordinating platform: philanthropic giving to the University is co-ordinated by the CityU Foundation. The largest fundraising campaign of the past decade has been "United, We Soar", which surpassed HK$2.5 billion in November 2022, reaching its original 2023 target some 18 months ahead of schedule^※ (see endowment-campaigns-and-matching-grants.md).

---

# 2. Donors of named buildings

# 2.1 Yeung Kin-man, SBS, JP — Yeung Kin Man Academic Building + five named chairs

CityU's largest and most central teaching building (formerly Academic 1) was named the "Yeung Kin Man Academic Building" on 28 April 2017, in recognition of Dr Yeung Kin-man's steadfast support and generous donations to the University and its students^※.

• About the donor: Yeung Kin-man is the founder of Biel Crystal Holdings, which manufactures more than half of the world's mobile-phone glass panels^※; he holds the Silver Bauhinia Star (SBS) and is a Justice of the Peace, an honorary doctorate holder of CityU, and an honorary chairman and honorary patron of the CityU Foundation's Board of Governors^※.
• Named chairs: beyond the academic building, Yeung also supports five named chair professorships — biomedical sciences, finance, network science, photonic materials, and sustainable engineering^※. According to the official registry of chair-holders, the "Yeung Kin Man Chair Professor of Biomedical Sciences" is held by Professor Michael Yang Meng-su, the "Yeung Kin Man Chair Professor of Network Science" by Professor Dai-peng Wu, and the "Yeung Kin Man Chair Professor of Photonic Materials" by Professor Andrey Rogach^※.
• Amount: the individual gift amounts for the named building and each chair have not been disclosed by the University — the AC1 naming release speaks only of "generous donations"; officially, no public figure exists.

# 2.2 Lau Ming-wai — Lau Ming Wai Academic Building

CityU's tallest structure (formerly Academic 3; a 20-storey tower over a 5-storey podium) is named after donor Lau Ming-wai as the "Lau Ming Wai Academic Building"; its 18th floor houses CityU's flagship art exhibition space, the Indra and Harry Banga Gallery^※ (see 2.5). The naming donation amount is not publicly disclosed.

# 2.3 Li Dak-sum & Yip Yio-chin — Li Dak Sum Yip Yio Chin Academic Building

The academic building formerly known as Academic 2, designed by Aedas, is named after donors Li Dak-sum and Yip Yio-chin as the "Li Dak Sum Yip Yio Chin Academic Building". The naming gift amount is not publicly disclosed.

# 2.4 Sir Run Run Shaw / The Shaw Foundation — Creative Media Centre + Library

Sir Run Run Shaw is the most landmark-making named donor in CityU's history:

• Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre: a faceted crystalline building designed by architect Daniel Libeskind, opened in October 2011. In September 2010 the University received a donation of HK$100 million from The Shaw Foundation (Hong Kong) Limited to support its development, and in gratitude named the Creative Media Centre after Sir Run Run Shaw^※.
• Run Run Shaw Library: the University's main library, founded in 1984, named after Sir Run Run Shaw in 1990 following a major donation from him^※ (the exact size of that 1990 library-naming gift is not publicly disclosed; the HK$100 million figure relates to the separate 2010 Shaw Foundation donation linked to the Creative Media Centre).

# 2.5 Harry & Indra Banga — Indra and Harry Banga Gallery

CityU's flagship art exhibition space, the "Indra and Harry Banga Gallery", occupies the 18th floor of the Lau Ming Wai Academic Building and was named on 5 November 2019 in recognition of the generous support of Mr Harry Banga and his wife Indra Banga^※.

• About the donors: Harry Banga is the founder, chairman and CEO of The Caravel Group, described as "a distinguished Hong Kong Indian with strong Hong Kong roots and global vision", and the first "mega donor" of Indian heritage to support CityU^※; Indra Banga is a board member of The Caravel Group and co-founder of The Caravel Foundation. The naming marked the 25th anniversary of CityU's elevation to university status^※.
• Amount: no official public figure (the release refers only to "support and generous donation").

# 2.6 The Hu Fa-kuang family / Ryoden Development — Hu Fa Kuang Sports Centre + three Hu-named chairs

The Hu Fa Kuang Sports Centre is named after Dr Hu Fa-kuang, founder of Ryoden Development; it reopened on 27 May 2026 with facilities including the largest single-storey sports hall of any Hong Kong university, a double squash court, and an all-weather indoor running track^※. The family's giving to CityU is channelled through the Ryoden Development Charitable Trust, which supports three named chairs:

• the "Herman Hu Chair Professorship in Nanomaterials" — named after Hu Fa-kuang's eldest son Herman Hu Shao-ming, GBS, JP, chairman of Ryoden Development — currently held by Professor Zhang Hua^※;
• the "Raymond Hu Professorship in Architecture" — named after Herman Hu's younger brother Raymond Hu, deputy chairman and managing director of Ryoden^※;
• the "Jeanie Hu Professorship in Biomedical Sciences" — named after Herman Hu's wife, Jeanie Hu^※.

Herman Hu served on the CityU Council for more than 14 years; the family has also set up athlete scholarships and supported the development of the Hu Fa Kuang Sports Centre^※. The amounts of the various gifts have not been disclosed by the University; no official public figures exist.

A note on names: the residential hostel Hall 9, "Sir Gordon and Lady Ivy Wu Hall", is named after Sir Gordon Wu (of Hopewell Holdings) and Lady Ivy Wu — a different Wu family altogether from the Hu Fa-kuang / Herman Hu (Ryoden Development) family above. Do not confuse the two.

# 2.7 William Mong Man-wai / Shun Hing Group — Mong Man-wai Building + Shun Hing chairs

CityU's Mong Man-wai Building is named after Dr William Mong Man-wai, founder of the Shun Hing Group. The family's Shun Hing Education and Charity Fund — established in 1984 by the late philanthropist William Mong, with cumulative giving of over HK$1.3 billion across more than three decades^※ — supports two named chairs at CityU: the "Shun Hing Education and Charity Fund Chair Professor of Engineering" (currently held by Professor Guanrong Chen) and the "Shun Hing Education and Charity Fund Professor of Energy and Environment"^※. The naming gift for the Mong Man-wai Building is not publicly disclosed.

# 2.8 Other named buildings (naming sources per University records; amounts not disclosed)

Several other CityU buildings bear donors' names. Their naming sources are per University campus records, but no individual gift amounts have been officially disclosed:

---

# 3. Donors of named halls of residence

Most of CityU's student residence halls are named after donor organisations or individuals; the list below follows the Student Residence Office's current pages and naming-ceremony records (for the full hostel system, see the chapter on student hostels).

# 3.1 Dr Lee Shau-kee, GBM — Lee Shau Kee Student Residence Village + Hall 6 + three named chairs

Lee Shau-kee is the representative donor whose name spans the widest range of categories at CityU — buildings, hostels, chairs, professorships and scholarships:

• Lee Shau Kee Student Residence Village: the "world's largest modular student residence" at Pak Shek Kok, with more than 2,000 bed spaces, was opened and formally named on 11 December 2024, in honour of Dr Lee Shau-kee, founder of Henderson Land Development^※. Dr Lee made a major donation in 2018 through the Lee Shau Kee Foundation to support the University's long-term development; his generosity had previously funded two named chair professorships, a professorship and several scholarships^※.
• Hall 6, "Lee Shau Kee Hall": the Cornwall Street hostel cluster also includes a hall named after Lee Shau-kee^※ (a different building from the Pak Shek Kok village, though both bear his name).
• Named chairs: per the official donor page, the chairs named after Lee Shau-kee are the "Lee Shau Kee Chair Professor of Information Engineering", "Lee Shau Kee Chair Professor of Materials Science" and "Lee Shau Kee Professor of e-Learning"^※; according to the chair-holder registry, the Chair Professor of Information Engineering is held by Professor Ma Wei-Ying and the Chair Professor of Materials Science by Professor Alex Jen^※. Lee once summarised his giving philosophy in a famous line: "philanthropy should work like leverage, using a small force to magnify the effect"^※.
• Amount: the exact size of that 2018 "major donation" is not disclosed in the official release; no official public figure exists.

# 3.2 Institution- and individual-named residence halls (Cornwall Street campus, Halls 1–11)

Per the Student Residence Office's page^※, many halls in the main-campus cluster are named after donor organisations or individuals (Chinese renderings below follow common usage; the authoritative Chinese names are per the University):

No individual naming gift amounts for the halls have been officially disclosed; for a few halls (e.g. Halls 10 and 11) the official English and Chinese names and naming sources are marked "to be confirmed" on the University's current pages (see the chapter on student hostels).

---

# 4. Donors of named colleges / academic units

# 4.1 Dr Chow Yei-ching — Chow Yei Ching School of Graduate Studies

CityU's School of Graduate Studies is named after Dr Chow Yei-ching as the "Chow Yei Ching School of Graduate Studies". The naming was announced in a University press release of 12 April 2007, in which the then President, Professor Chang Hsun-hsiang, described Chow's gift as "the largest single donation in CityU's history"; the University named the School after him in recognition of his support for graduate scholarly activities and the School's development^※. The exact amount of the gift is described in the release only as "the largest single donation in CityU's history" without a figure; no official public number exists.

# 4.2 The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust — Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences + One Health Tower + a veterinary chair

The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust is CityU's largest single named donor by gift size:

• A HK$500 million donation + the Jockey Club One Health Tower: on 21 November 2017, CityU received a donation of HK$500 million from the Jockey Club Charities Trust to build the Jockey Club One Health Tower, housing Hong Kong's first College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences; it was the largest single gift CityU had received in its 33-year history^※.
• Named college: in August 2018, the College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences was renamed the "Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences" in gratitude for the Trust's generous support^※.
• Subsequent donations (per financial statements): in 2024/25, CityU received HK$99,164,000 (about HK$99.16 million) from the Trust, designated for the construction of the Jockey Club One Health Tower and four community service programmes^※ (the comparable prior-year figure was HK$63,894,000^※) — the largest single source of donations for the year.

Sources disagree on the tower's specifications: the 2017 University release describes the One Health Tower as 12 storeys with a floor area of about 16,500 m², originally scheduled for completion in late 2022^※; later media/industry reports give 15 storeys, over 24,000 m², expected completion in late 2025^※ — possibly reflecting design changes or revised reporting conventions. This archive records both figures side by side and makes no ruling, deferring to the University's final completed data. The Jockey Club also lends its name to three main-campus halls (Halls 1/4/7, see 3.2).

---

# 5. Master table of named chair professorship donors (per official registry)

The donors and corresponding chairs in CityU's Named Chair Professorship Scheme, compiled from the official donor page^※ and the registry of chair-holders^※ (the establishment gift for each chair is not disclosed by the University — no official public figures exist; current chair-holders listed are living scholars outside the senior leadership, recorded as shown on the official website):

Note: "Current chair-holder" in the table above lists only those published in the official registry; where the registry does not list an incumbent, or the post is under recruitment, "—" is used. Chinese renderings of chair names follow common usage based on the English; the authoritative official Chinese titles are those on CityU's named-professorship pages. Chinese names (e.g. 周德豐, 黄秦东, 陈汉斌, 黄震鸿) are romanised/translated phonetically from the English; the precise official Chinese forms await verification against University pages.

---

# 6. Key points at a glance

1. Largest single named gift: HK$500 million from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust (2017), funding the Jockey Club One Health Tower and naming the Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences — the largest single donation CityU has received since its founding.
2. Most cross-category namer: Lee Shau-kee spans "Pak Shek Kok residence village + main-campus Hall 6 + three named chairs + a professorship + scholarships"; Yeung Kin-man spans "core academic building + five named chairs".
3. Landmark namer: Sir Run Run Shaw / The Shaw Foundation — HK$100 million in 2010 (Creative Media Centre) plus the 1990 library naming; the Libeskind crystal is a CityU visual signature.
4. Named colleges/schools: Chow Yei-ching (School of Graduate Studies, 2007, described as "the largest single donation in CityU's history" but without a figure); the Jockey Club (College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, 2018).
5. Family foundations: Herman Hu / Ryoden Development (Sports Centre + three Hu-named chairs); William Mong / Shun Hing (Mong Man-wai Building + two Shun Hing chairs; the Shun Hing Fund's cumulative giving exceeds HK$1.3 billion).
6. Disclosure practice: the great majority of CityU's named gifts do not come with a disclosed amount; wherever no official figure exists, this chapter marks "no official public figure", and precise amounts are per the donations note in the Bursar's annual report and official press releases.
7. Name caution: Hall 9, "Sir Gordon and Lady Ivy Wu Hall" (Hopewell, Gordon Wu) is a different family from Hu Fa-kuang / Herman Hu (Ryoden) — do not mix them up.

---

# 7. Unverified and to-be-completed items

• Individual gift amounts for most named donations: CityU generally does not disclose amounts for personal namings (the Yeung Kin Man, Lau Ming Wai and Li Dak Sum Yip Yio Chin academic buildings, the Banga Gallery, the named chairs, the named halls); this chapter marks them honestly as "no official public figure".
• Official Chinese titles for named chairs: some chairs exist only under their English names in official materials; the Chinese forms here follow common usage, and the authoritative Chinese titles await verification against the University's named-professorship pages.
• Naming source of the To Yuen Building: functional or a donor — unverified.
• Final storey count / floor area of the Jockey Club One Health Tower: sources differ (12 storeys/16,500 m² vs 15 storeys/24,000 m²); the University's completed data will be the deciding reference.
• Naming sources for main-campus Hall 10 / Hall 11: marked "to be confirmed" on the University's current pages.

---