| "Professor Wang brings the best traditions of Eastern and Western scholarship to any discussion relating to education, society and history, which is his special field of expertise," said COL President, Dato' Professor Gajaraj Dhanarajan . "His research on and academic contribution to the history of the Chinese Diaspora are seminal works in the field; and as an academic leader and university administrator he has won acclaim from peers, colleagues and governments throughout both the Asia-Pacific region and the Commonwealth. We are indeed fortunate to have him present the Asa Briggs Lecture at the Pan-Commonwealth Forum." Currently Director of the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore and Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, Professor Wang is best known as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong from 1986 to 1995. Previously, he was a history professor at The University of Malaya (in both Singapore and Kuala Lumpur) and at the Australian National University's Research School of Pacific Studies. The Asa Briggs Lecture honours the founding Chairman of The Commonwealth of Learning, the Rt. Hon. Lord Briggs of Lewes, also a world-renowned historian. The Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning will celebrate the tenth anniversary of The Commonwealth of Learning. The event will be co-hosted by COL, the Brunei Darussalam Ministry of Education and Universiti Brunei Darussalam, and is being organised in collaboration with the Commonwealth's open and distance learning professional associations. It will be held at the International Convention Centre in Bandar Seri Begawan from 1 - 5 March 1999. The Commonwealth of Learning was created by Commonwealth Heads of Government in 1988 and became operational in 1989. With headquarters based in Vancouver, the international organisation serves the 54-member Commonwealth with a mandate to widen opportunities for learning by promoting the development and sharing of distance education resources and communications technologies. Novmeber 17, 1998 Photo may be taken electronically from this page Bio Data: Wang Gungwu is Director of the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore and Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, and emeritus professor of The Australian National University. He was born in Surabaya, Indonesia, and brought up in Ipoh, Malaysia. His first degrees were from the University of Malaya, Singapore, and his doctorate from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He has taught at The University of Malaya (in Singapore, 1957-59; in Kuala Lumpur, 1959-1968), where he was Dean of Arts (1962-63), and Professor of History (1963-68). From 1968 to 1986, he was Professor of Far Eastern History in the Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University. During that period, he was also Director of the Research School for five years. In 1986, he was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong, a post he held until the end of 1995. Wang Gungwu is a Commander of the British Empire; Member, Academia Sinica; Honorary Academy Member, Chinese Academy of Social Science; Foreign Honorary Member, American Academy of Arts and Science. He is Honorary Fellow of the School of Oriental and African Studies, London; and Honorary Professors of Hong Kong, Peking and Fudan (Shanghai) Universities. Among his books are The Nanhai Trade: the early history of Chinese trade in the South China Sea (1958 and 1998); The Structure of Power in North China during the Five Dynasties (1963); China and the World since 1949 (1977); Community and Nation (1981 and 1993); Dongnanya yu Huaren [Southeast Asia and the Chinese] (1987); The Chineseness of China (1991); The Chinese Way: China's Position in International Relations (1995). He also edited Changing Identities of Southeast Asian Chinese since World War II (with Jennifer Cushman) (1988); Global History and Migrations (1997); Xianggang shi xinbian [Hong Kong History: New Perspectives] (1997) and China's Political Economy (with John Wong) (1998). |