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No 2 spot at University of Hong Kong unfilled for more than three years, with no new search in sight
- Former HKU vice-president Paul Tam has served as interim provost since 2015
- After two rounds without success, third search was cancelled when then vice chancellor Peter Mathieson resigned
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The No 2 management post at Hong Kong‘s oldest university has been unfilled for three-and-a-half years, and this may not change soon, the Post has learned.
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The University of Hong Kong has been unable to find a new provost and deputy vice chancellor since mid-2015, after two rounds of unsuccessful searches in 2015 and July 2016, and the search process has been suspended since, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed.
Two of the four candidates dropped out in the first round in mid-2015 shortly before the school’s governing council refused to appoint legal scholar Johannes Chan Man-mun as pro-vice-chancellor. The pro-vice-chancellor is one step below the provost in the university’s chain of command.
Another two candidates were found in early 2016, but the panel chaired by then vice chancellor Peter Mathieson agreed in July that both were not suitable.
HKU legal scholar Johannes Chan ‘lets go’ of controversy
A third search by the same panel, originally scheduled for early 2017, never took place after Mathieson himself resigned in February that year.
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