P R E S S   R E L E A S E

The Chinese University of Hong Kong announced at a ceremony held today on its Shatin campus that a new scholarship named The Esther Yewpick Lee Millennium Scholarship will be awarded to an outstanding graduate or final-year student of The Chinese University of Hong Kong each year to study at the University of Oxford.

The Esther Yewpick Lee Millennium Scholarship Scheme is established with funds from the estate of the late Dr. Esther Yewpick Lee, whose husband Dr Richard Charles Lee was Vice-Chairman of the Provisional Council and of the Council of The Chinese University of Hong Kong for over 20 years since the planning stage of the University.  The Lee family has always been staunch supporters of The Chinese University of Hong Kong.  The Lee family also attended the University of Oxford for three generations.  The Scholarship serves to commemorate the Lee family’s strong connection with and affection for both The Chinese University of Hong Kong and the University of Oxford, and to strengthen the ties between the two universities.  The Scholarship will make a significant contribution to the welfare of the Chinese University’s undergraduates by enabling them to continue their studies at the prestigious and long-established University of Oxford.

Officiating at the ceremony were Professor Arthur K. C. Li, Vice-Chancellor of The Chinese University of Hong Kong and Dr Deanna Lee Rudgard, a representative of the Lee Family.  Considering the Scholarship to be a lasting tribute to her parents, joining the two universities they loved, Dr Rudgard said that the awardees of the Scholarship are ideally those "not only be an academically capable boy or girl, but someone who has shown that he cares about those around him, someone who is willing to spare time and energy to help his fellow human beings, who has interests in more than his own subject of study, who wants to reach out to other cultures and who can be an ambassador for his own."

Professor Li thanked the trustees of Dr Esther Yewpick Lee’s estate and Dr Rudgard in particular at the ceremony.  He believed that the establishment of such a prominent scholarship scheme will "offer our students excellent opportunities to further their studies in a world-class university, it will strengthen our ability to attract Hong Kong's finest students to our undergraduate programmes, it will help nurture future leaders for Hong Kong - leaders with international exposure and broad perspectives."

The Esther Yewpick Lee Millennium Scholarship will cover all University and College fees at Oxford, as well as an annual personal allowance to take care of board and lodging and other maintenance costs.  Transportation expenses to Oxford and back to Hong Kong will also be provided.

The Scholarship Selection Committee will identify candidates who not only  meet the academic criteria, but have a respect for humanity, a curious mind, moral integrity and a spirit of adventure, and reveal the potential to make a contribution to the well-being of the community.

Further information on the Esther Yewpick Lee Millennium Scholarship can be obtained by visiting the website at http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/osa/esther.htm.