The Board of Governors of Tung Wah College (TWC) announced the appointment of Professor Man Wai Kwong, David as the College’s next Vice President (Academic) with a five-year term of office from 2 May 2023.

Professor Man has been fulfiling his leading roles in tertiary institutions, exhibiting his professional experience in academic administration and research management. Professor Man is currently a Professor at the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and Director of the Mental Health Research Centre (MHRC) of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). He began his career as an occupational therapist at Haven of Hope Hospital, and joined the then Hong Kong Polytechnic in 1989 as a Lecturer in Occupational Therapy (OT). He was appointed as an Assistant Professor in 1994, subsequently promoted as Associate Professor in 2002 and full Professor in 2012. In the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Professor Man served as Associate Head (Research) from 2017-2022. He has also held multiple administrative roles at the departmental and faculty level, including Chair of Departmental Research Committee and Departmental Staff Development Committee, as well as member of the Faculty Staffing Committee and Human Subjects Ethics Subcommittee. Professor Man has also won many competitive grants from different funding bodies. As an internationally renowned scholar in rehabilitation, Professor Man has been listed among the top 2% scientists in a global list released by Stanford University.

Professor Man has extensive experience in programme development and validation. At the PolyU, he developed and obtained validation for the Bachelor of Science (Honours) in OT and the Master in OT. Meanwhile, he served as an internal validation panel member for the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Applied Ageing Studies and Service Management and the Master of Science in Mental Health Nursing programme. Professor Man was a member of the panel accrediting Programme Area Accreditation in OT for many years. He was also a Member of the Occupational Therapists Board’s Accreditation and Review Committee, and an external validation panel member for the Certificate in Physical Rehabilitation programme at HKU SPACE.

Professor Man maintains strong connections with funding bodies and NGOs. He is a Member of Sciences, Medicine, Engineering and Technology Selection Panel for the Research Grants Council’s Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (2022-2024), a Research Council Member and Grant Review Board Member of the Health Bureau/Food and Health Bureau’s Health and Medical Research Fund (2011-Date), and an honorary advisor to various organisations.

TWC welcomes Professor Man to the College, and is confident that with his demonstrable track experience, he will assist the President in leading TWC to achieve its goal of becoming a private university.

The Board of Governors would also like to express their sincerest gratitude to Professor Matthew Yau for his dedication and contributions to the College for serving as the Acting Vice President (Academic) from September 2022.