Croucher Senior Research Fellow 2006

Professor Hak-Fun CHOW
Department of Chemistry
The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Currently Professor in the Department of Chemistry at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Professor Hak-Fun Chow is a leading scientist in organic and synthetic chemistry. Among his many research interests, his work on the synthesis and property investigations of hyperbranched polymers and dendrimers has contributed significantly to our understandings on this new and interesting class of polymer molecules. Professor Chow uses different physical and chemical techniques to probe both the internal and external properties of these polymer molecules. He is also one of the pioneering scientists to work on the synthesis and self-assembly of dendronized polymers. His latest research work on dendritic gels was selected as a frontispiece article in Chemistry, a European Journal (Issue 11, 2005).

Professor Chow obtained his B.Sc. (1979) and M.Phil. (1981) degrees in chemistry from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He was then awarded the Croucher Foundation Postgraduate Scholarship to further his studies at The University of Cambridge. After obtaining his Ph.D. in chemistry in 1984, he undertook postdoctoral research at The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zˆ¢rich and Oxford University. During 1987 to 1992, he joined DowElanco as a research scientist carrying out research works on the design and synthesis of agrochemicals and drug molecules. In 1992, Professor Chow returned to The Chinese University of Hong Kong to serve as a Lecturer in the Chemistry Department and was promoted to Professor in 1998.

Professor Chow has published over 70 papers in leading international referred journals and has been invited to deliver over 15 invited talks and plenary lectures at international conferences. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and a Chartered Scientist of the Science Council, England. He is also the regional associate editor of Synlett, an international leading journal on organic synthesis.