Professor Lionel M. Ni, BS, MS, PhD
Provost

Biography

Professor Lionel M. Ni took office as the Provost of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) on May 16, 2019. He is concurrently Chair Professor of Computer Science and Engineering. Prior to this, he was Vice Rector (Academic Affairs) and Chair Professor in the Department of Computer and Information Science at the University of Macau. From July 2002 to December 2014, he served at HKUST in various capacities including Chair Professor and Head of Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Dean of HKUST Fok Ying Tung Graduate School and Special Assistant to the President.

Professor Ni earned his PhD degree in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University in 1980. He was Professor in Computer Science and Engineering at Michigan State University (1981 to 2002), the Microelectronic Systems Architecture program director at US National Science Foundation (1995-1996) and co-founder and CEO of CC&T Technologies, Inc., Michigan (1998-2001), and the Chief Scientist of the China’s National 973 Program on Wireless Sensor Networks (2006 to 2011).

Professor Ni’s research publications have received strong support with over 35,000 citations on Google Scholar. The winner of 8 best paper awards, he has multiple achievements including ownership of 27 US/China patents and having supervised 73 PhD students.

A Life Fellow of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Professor Ni won the Overseas Outstanding Contribution Award from China Computer Federation in 2009, the First Class Award in Natural Sciences from the Ministry of Education, China in 2010, the Second Class Award in Natural Sciences for Research Excellence from the State Council, China in 2011, and the First Class Award in Science and Technology from the Guangdong Province in 2014.

 

Areas of Responsibility

Among his major responsibilities, Provost is the chief  academic officer who provides leadership in setting the University’s academic strategy and priorities and oversees the University’s core mission in advancing learning and knowledge through teaching and research.   Additional to the academic leadership, Provost also plays an overall managing role in coordinating and synergizing the various University functions towards the agreed strategies and goals.