Prof Samuel Sun is the Professor of Biology and Academician of The Chinese Academy of Engineering. Graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in Biology in 1966, Prof Sun subsequently received B.Sc. Sp. Hon. and M.Sc. degrees from the University of Hong Kong and then obtained Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Wisconsin in the United States in 1974. He was the Director in Molecular Biology at the Plant Cell Research Institute of California in the 1980s, and was appointed Professor at the Department of Plant Molecular Physiology of the University of Hawaii in 1991. He joined the University in 1995 and was Chair to the Department of Biology from 1996-2004, Founding Director of the Molecular Biotechnology Programme from 1998-1999, and Director/Coordinator of the UGC-AoE Centre for Plant and Agricultural Biotechnology (former as Plant and Fungal Biotechnology Centre) since 2000, Director of Institute of Plant Molecular Biology and Agricultural Biotechnology since 2006, and Master of S.H. Ho College since 2006. Prof Sun was elected a member of Chinese Acadedmy of Engineering in 2003. He has been member of various professional organizations including the American Society of Plant Biologists, International Society for Plant Molecular Biology and Society of Chinese Bioscientists in America.

Prof Sun's research interests encompass a number of area such as plant gene isolation, characterization, transfer, expression, and regulation; plant bioreactors; as well as rice quality improvement and functional genomics. Prof Sun is credited as the scientist who first cloned a plant gene and discovered plant gene intervening sequences and first enhanced an essential amino acid in plant through biotechnological approach. With his achievements in the plant biology area, he has been awarded the Friendship Medal by the State Government of China, Greatwall Friendship Award by The People's Government of Beijing Municipality of China, the Distinguished Research Award by the Atlantic Richfield Corporation (ARCO) of USA and more recently, the Leader of Year 2005 Award in Education/Research by the Singtao News Group, Hong Kong.

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