HKUST Honored Class of 2024 Graduates and Conferred Honorary Doctorates on Four Distinguished Leaders

The School of Engineering welcomed over 2,200 graduates in its newest Class of 2024. [Download Photo]

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) held its Congregation 2024 in multiple sessions from November 23 to December 3, 2024, honoring four prominent and distinguished leaders with Honorary Doctorates and celebrating a significant milestone in the academic journeys of over 6,000 graduates in the Class of 2024.

The four recipients of the Honorary Doctorate, listed in alphabetical order of surnames, were:
• Dr. Jensen HUANG, Founder and CEO of NVIDIA – Doctor of Engineering honoris causa
• Mr. Tony LEUNG Chiu-Wai, the Golden Lion-winning actor – Doctor of Humanities honoris causa
• Prof. Michael LEVITT, the awardee of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2013 – Doctor of Science honoris causa
• Prof. David MUMFORD, a Fields Medalist – Doctor of Science honoris causa

HKUST Council Chairman Prof. Harry SHUM commended the four Honorary Doctorate awardees for their distinguished achievements and impactful contributions to the society. HKUST President Prof. Nancy IP also recognized the Honorary Doctorate awardees for their dedication, perseverance, and accomplishments, while congratulating this year’s graduates on reaching a significant milestone in their lives.

In his address to engineering graduates, delivered at the School of Engineering sessions of the Congregation, Dean of Engineering Prof. Hong K. LO stressed the important role of engineers. “Engineering is not just about building bridges or coding software, it is about addressing real-world problems and enhancing people’s quality of life. In this technological era, the role of engineers has never been more crucial. Embrace this role with passion and purpose. Indeed, you are very important,” he said.

Upon the graduation of the Class of 2024, HKUST’s global alumni community has reached the milestone of over 100,000 members, with around 39,000 being engineering alumni. This year, HKUST conferred a total of 6,029 academic degrees, including over 2,200 degrees in engineering.

Following the Honorary Doctorate Conferment Ceremony on November 23, Prof. Harry Shum, also a renowned AI expert, chaired an enlightening fireside chat session entitled “Technology, Leadership, and Entrepreneurship” with one of the Honorary Doctorate awardees, Dr. Jensen Huang. The pair engaged in a dynamic and interactive exchange with the HKUST community on a future with AI.

Dr. Huang later visited the “Innovation Showcase”, where he interacted with senior management and faculty members to explore the University’s achievements in AI-related research. Engineering project teams led by faculty members Prof. CHEN Hao, Prof. CHEN Qifeng, Prof. JIA Jiaya, Prof. TAN Ping, and Prof. XIE Yuan were invited to join. Their presentations covered a range of innovative topics, including AI chips, AI healthcare, 3D modeling, computer vision and graphics and large multimodal models.

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