Faculty of Science
Where was Rayson Huang educated from 1942 to 1944?
Rayson Huang Rayson Lisung Huang , ( ; 1 September 1920 − 8 April 2015 ) , was a Hong Kong chemist , who was an expert on radicals . He was the first Chinese Vice-Chancellor of The University of Hong Kong , a position in which he served from 1972 until 1986 . Early years . Huangs family came from Shantou , Guangdong . He completed his primary and secondary education at Munsang College , where his father was the founding principal . He later attended St . Johns University in Shanghai in 1937 , but his studies were interrupted by the Japanese invasion . After 1938 he continued his studies as a scholarship student at The University of Hong Kong . In Hong Kong Huang majored in chemistry at St . Johns Hall ( now called St . Johns College ) . In addition to his academic studies , Huang was an accomplished violinist . Following the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong in 1941 , Huang briefly worked with British auxiliary forces and was responsible for detecting chemical weapons . In 1942 his studies at the University were interrupted when the school was forced to close . Huang returned to China in 1942 and arrived in Guangxi . By 1945 Huang had followed other members of The University of Hong Kong chemistry department to Britain and received a scholarship to study at the University of Oxfords Institute of Chemistry . He received at doctorate in chemistry and subsequently pursued his post-doctoral research at the University of Chicago . During his study in Chicago , he met his future wife Grace Wei Huang . Academic career . In 1951 , Huang taught chemistry at the University of Malaya in Singapore ( now National University of Singapore ) and later he was transferred to University of Malayas Kuala Lumpur campus . He became a tenured professor of chemistry and then acting Vice-Chancellor and Dean of the Faculty of Science . University administrator . In 1969 Huang was appointed as Vice-Chancellor at Nanyang University in Singapore . In 1972 Huang became the first Chinese Vice-Chancellor of The University of Hong Kong and quelled a student demonstration during a royal visit to Hong Kong . In addition , he served in various capacities including becoming a member of the Hong Kong Basic Law Drafting Committee in drafting Hong Kongs post handover constitution . Rayson Huang and his wife retired in 1994 and lived with their son . Retirement and post-academic life . By 1999 the Huangs returned to Hong Kong . His wife Grace who was suffering from senile dementia then died in Hong Kong . To commemorate his wifes life , Rayson Huang established the Grace Wei Huang Memorial Fund . and authored a memoir , A Lifetime in Academia : An autobiography by Rayson Huang , the proceeds from which will be set aside for the fund . Huang had a wide range of hobbies , one of the most special having been the study of violin making . He returned to Hong Kong on a regular basis . Huang also established the Progress of Hong Kongs Rayson Huang and the Rayson Huang Foundation . in Malaysia . External links . - The oral history of Rayson Huang - Hong Kong Memory