UM holds the Welcome Reception and Orientation for New Academic Staff
The University of Macau (UM) today (23 August) held the Welcome Reception and Orientation for New Academic Staff 2023/2024 to welcome a new batch of faculty members. As UM’s international reputation and influence continue to grow, more and more of the world’s outstanding academic staff are joining the university. For the new academic year, the university has recruited 71 top scholars from around the world.
The new academic staff include outstanding young scholars and internationally renowned academics. They come from a variety of cultural backgrounds. Some were born and raised in Macao, and some come from overseas. They are engaged in cutting-edge research in various fields, including different disciplines of humanities and social sciences, neurobiology, optoelectronics, smart construction, and big data analysis. Many of the new faculty members are top-notch professionals from their respective disciplines, such as Li Jun, chair professor and head of the Department of Arts and Designin the Faculty of Arts and Humanities (FAH);Zhang Jian, chair professor in theDepartment of Chinese Language and Literature in the FAH; Gui Changfeng,chair professor andhead of the Department of Mathematics in the Faculty of Science and Technology; Zhang Wenyang, chair professor in the Department of Accounting and Information Management in the Faculty of Business Administration (FBA); Wong Ip Kin, professor in the Department of Integrated Resort and Tourism Management in the FBA; Sun Handong, Distinguished Professor at the Institute of Applied Physics and Materials Engineering; and Liu Xinsheng, professor in the Department of Government and Public Administration in the Faculty of Social Sciences.
In addition, many of the new academic staff are graduates of world-renowned universities, such as Harvard University, University of Cambridge, Columbia University, ETH Zurich, Tsinghua University, Peking University, National University of Singapore, University of Hong Kong, University of California San Diego, Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. They are expected to bring more diverse and international perspectives and experiences, which will help UM produce more outstanding graduates and take its teaching and research to new heights.
At the event, UM Rector Yonghua Song said that positioning itself as a university firmly rooted in Macao, UM will continue to take part in the development of the Greater Bay Area, integrate into national development, and reach out to the world. The university will continue its commitment to providing high-quality education and advancing key research initiatives with international influence. He also wished the new faculty members a fruitful academic life and happiness at UM. In addition, UM Vice Rectors Michael Hui, Ge Wei, Mok Kai Meng, and Claudia Xu, along with Wang Ruibing, director of the Global Affairs Office, and Victoria Lei, representative of the Committee on Gender Equity and associate professor in the FAH, shared the university’s latest developments in academic, research, student affairs, administration, and global affairs, as well as the university’s initiatives for gender equity, respectively.
In the future, UM will continue its efforts to cultivate and recruit high-calibre talent, and create favourable working conditions for its faculty members to help them leverage their strengths and achieve academic breakthroughs. By developing a faculty with international influence, the university aims to make greater contributions to Macao’s education and social development.
