CityU 40th Anniversary | Qiao Xiaoyang, Paul Pun conferred honorary doctorate degrees

As part of the celebratory events marking its 40th Anniversary, the City University of Macau (CityU) held a conferment ceremony of honorary doctorate degrees yesterday. Chinese legal professional Qiao Xiaoyang and local charity worker Paul Pun were the recipients.
Holding the position of Secretary-General of charity organization Caritas Macau for years, Pun has become something of an icon for the organization. He has led uncountable projects aiding communities in need in Macau. One of his many projects is the annual Charity Bazaar, which has been held in the city without fail for more than half a century.
Yesterday, Pun was conferred with a Doctorate honoris causa in Social Science.
Meanwhile, Qiao has held several national positions which focus on popularizing and promoting the Basic Law in the two Special Administrative Regions. He has also served as a vice-chairman of the legislative affairs commission of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee.
Qiao has held positions on the Hong Kong SAR Preparatory Committee and Macao SAR Preparatory Committee, overseeing the work prior to, during and after the transfer of sovereignties.
Qiao was conferred with a Doctorate honoris causa in Law.

‘Patriots Governing Macau’ education
Representing the Chief Executive, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong gave a speech at the ceremony yesterday. She reiterated that higher education should abide by the principle of “Patriots Governing Macau.” Education with a patriotic focus should be practiced in higher education institutions in order to “nurture youth talents with the correct values and [a] sense of responsibility.”
She added that institutions should also become accustomed to the new requirements for the development of the Greater Bay Area and the country, while utilizing Big Data and IT to renew manners of transfer of research results. This will, in Ao Ieong’s words, provide reliable support for Macau’s technological development and economic diversification.

CityU sees new rector onboard
Professor Jun Liu has been appointed as the Rector of the City University of Macau as of March 1, 2021. Liu is a professional linguist, intercultural communication specialist and language educator.
As an international leader in the field of language education, Liu was the first Asian and non-native English-speaking President of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. International (TESOL) from 2005 to 2007. He also received the James E Alatis Award of Outstanding Service to TESOL in 2016.
He has served as Vice President of the International Research Foundation of English Language Education since 2015; Vice President of Teachers of Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages (2013-2019), and Board Member of Association of International Education Administrators (2015-2018).
Liu believes that the CityU will seize this historic opportunity to develop higher education in Macau and adhere to the ethos of a metropolitan university rooted in the culture and values of the city and region it inhabits, while cultivating young talent with both patriotism and a global outlook.