University of Hong Kong

The University of Hong Kong

香港大學
Arms of The University of Hong Kong
Motto	Sapientia et Virtus (Latin) 明德格物 (Chinese)
Motto in English	Wisdom and Virtue
Type	Public
Established	30 March 1911 (1911-03-30)
Chairman	Arthur Li (Chairman of the Council)
Chancellor	Leung Chun-ying
President	Peter Mathieson
Vice-president	Steven J. Cannon (Dr) (Executive Vice-President (Administration and Finance)) Terry Kit-fong Au (Professor) (Vice-President and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic Staffing and Resources)) W. John Kao (Professor) (Vice-President and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Global)) Douglas So (Mr) (Vice-President and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Institutional Advancement)) T. S. Andy Hor (Professor) (Vice-President and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research)) Ian Holliday (Professor) (Vice-President and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching and Learning))
Provost	Paul K.H. Tam (Professor) (Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor)
Vice-Chancellor	Peter Mathieson
Academic staff	3,493
Administrative staff	3,706
Students	27,933
Undergraduates	16,187
Postgraduates	11,746
Location	Pokfulam, Hong Kong 22°17′03″N 114°08′16″E / 22.28417°N 114.13778°E / 22.28417; 114.13778Coordinates: 22°17′03″N 114°08′16″E / 22.28417°N 114.13778°E / 22.28417; 114.13778
Campus	Urban 53.1 hectares (0.531 km2)
Newspaper	Undergrad HKUSU (Chinese)
Colours	Dark green
Mascot	Lion
Affiliations	ASAIHL, Universitas 21, ACU, JUPAS, AACSB, EQUIS, APRU, UGC, Heads of Universities Committee, Joint Quality Review Committee
Website	hku.hk

The University of Hong Kong (often abbreviated as HKU, informally known as Hong Kong University) is a public research university located in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. Founded in 1911, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong.

Today, HKU is organised into 10 academic faculties with English as the main language of instruction. It exhibits strength in scholarly research and education of accounting & finance, biomedicine,dentistry, humanities, law,social sciences, and political sciences, and is the first team in the world which successfully isolated the corona virus, the Causative agent of SARS.

The University of Hong Kong was founded in 1911. Governor Sir Frederick Lugard had proposed to establish a university in Hong Kong to compete with the other Great Powers opening universities in China, most notably Prussia, which had just opened the Tongji German Medical School in Shanghai. Indian businessman Sir Hormusjee Naorojee Mody learned of Lugard's plan and pledged to donate HK$150,000 towards the construction and HK$30,000 towards other costs. The Hong Kong Government and the business sector in southern China, which were both equally eager to learn "secrets of the West's success" (referring to technological advances made since the Industrial Revolution), also gave their support. The government contributed a site at West Point; Swire Group also contributed £40,000 to endow a chair in Engineering, and thousands of dollars in equipment. The aim was partly to bolster its corporate image following the death of a passenger on board one of its ships, Fatshan, and the subsequent unrest stirred by the Self-Government Society. Along with other donors including the British government and companies such as HSBC, Lugard finally had enough to fund the building of the university.