The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) announced the appointment of Prof Kar Yan Tam as Dean of the School of Business and Management (HKUST Business School).

Prof Tam, a top-notch information systems scholar specializing in big data and electronic commerce, firmly believes that academic research should be intellectually challenging and practically relevant.  He has been playing an active role in promoting academia-business collaboration projects and start-ups at the University. 

Among the founding faculty members of the HKUST Business School, Prof Tam has demonstrated a strong spirit of innovation at HKUST, pioneering signature initiatives including the highly acclaimed Global Business (GBUS) Program and taking the lead in launching the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program – the largest undergraduate research program in Hong Kong. 

“It is an enormous honor for me to lead the HKUST Business School, which has forged an international reputation for world class business education,” said Prof Tam.  “Going forward, we will continue to build on the strong foundations of the School and find new ways to expand and capitalize on our existing strengths, not only within the School but across the University and the business community at large, to offer the very best experience and education to our students.”     

Prof Tam graduated from Purdue University with a PhD in Management Information Systems. He joined HKUST in 1992 after serving on the Business Faculty of The University of Texas at Austin in the US.  He was awarded the title of Chair Professor of Information Systems, Business Statistics and Operations Management in 2005.  From 1999 to 2006, he was Associate Dean of the HKUST Business School, and from 2002 to 2005, the Head of the Department of Information and Systems Management.  Prior to the new appointment with effect from 1 April 2016, he was Dean of Students and Associate Provost at the University from 2007 to 2016, and was dedicated to improving the quality of HKUST’s undergraduate education.

His notable achievements include the smooth transition of the undergraduate programs to the new four-year curriculum, internationalization of the undergraduate student body, recruitment of prospective local and international students through a number of recruitment campaigns and outreach efforts, and a significant increase in the number of international exchange opportunities.

Prof Tam is currently a member of the UGC Research Grants Council, the Curriculum Development Council, and the Committee on Self-financing Post-secondary Education of the Education Bureau.  He was also appointed a member of the Steering Group on Financial Technologies in 2015 to advise the Government on how to develop Hong Kong into a Fintech hub. Read more