The Simon K.Y. Lee HKU-UBC House incorporates 100 residence spaces in Marine Drive Student Residences and includes the Simon K.Y. Lee Global Lounge and Resource Centre and the Simon K.Y. Lee Hong Kong Ballroom.
UBC President and Vice-Chancellor Stephen Toope was joined at the opening by HKU President and Vice-Chancellor Lap-Chee Tsui, who is visiting UBC with a group of HKU students.
The two presidents renewed a 1991 mobility agreement that has so far enabled 200 students to travel between the two institutions for study, research, and internships. In the 2010/11 academic year, seven students from HKU will be at UBC studying commerce, science and law.
The new facilities will strengthen the long-standing partnership between HKU and UBC and help generate joint academic and research opportunities. The creation of 100 residence spaces promotes cross-cultural learning between UBC students and students visiting from Hong Kong. The Simon K.Y. Lee Hong Kong Ballroom functions as a new home for the public to enjoy cultural events and activities related to Hong Kong, building greater cultural awareness and ties between Hong Kong and Vancouver.
“The Simon K.Y. Lee HKU-UBC House provides students with an informal setting that fosters learning opportunities and builds intercultural understanding,” said Prof. Toope.
UBC is a Canadian leader in student residence partnerships with foreign universities. The HKU-UBC House follows similar partnerships with Ritsumeikan University in Japan, Korea University in South Korea and Tec de Monterrey in Mexico.
The $4-million gift for the facilities came from Hong Kong-based philanthropist Simon K.Y. Lee and was announced in 2006. Lee passed away earlier this year; his eldest son Philip Lee, and other members of the family, attended the opening.
“My father supported partnerships between these two world-class institutions, hoping to lay the foundation for academic and research advancement,” said Philip Lee. “It is incredibly gratifying to see my father’s gift come to fruition.”
“The late Dr. Simon K.Y. Lee saw the House’s potential as greater than its walls and I know he would be immensely pleased that the dialogue and cultural exchanges have already begun,” said Prof. Tsui.
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BACKGROUND
The University of Hong Kong (HKU)
Founded in 1911, HKU is the territory’s oldest university, with a long heritage of academic excellence and service to the community. Today, HKU is a world-class comprehensive research-led university, with close to a hundred of its faculty ranked by the Institute for Scientific Information as being among the world’s top one per cent of scientists.
With a strong international outlook and a tradition of English language instruction, HKU attracts the best academic staff and the brightest students from the territory and around the world. The University is committed to nurturing talent and leaders for both the local and global community and to cultivating internationalism on campus. We strongly support international academic collaboration, and staff and student exchanges at all levels, with over 400 higher education institutions. For more about HKU, visit: http://www.hku.hk
The University of British Columbia (UBC)
The University of British Columbia is one of Canada’s largest and most prestigious public research and teaching institutions, and one of only two Canadian institutions to be consistently ranked among the world’s 40 best universities.
Surrounded by the beauty of the Canadian West, it is a place that inspires bold, new ways of thinking that have helped make it a national leader in areas as diverse as community service learning, sustainability and research commercialization. Located in the Pacific Rim gateway of Vancouver, one of the world’s great cities, and in the Interior city of Kelowna, it offers more than 50,000 students a range of innovative programs in the arts, sciences, medicine, law, commerce and other faculties. UBC attracts $550 million per year in research funding from government, non-profit organizations and industry through 7,000 grants. For more information, visit: www.ubc.ca