Professor Poon Wai-yin, JP

Biography

Professor Poon Wai-yin currently serves as Provost and Wei Lun Professor of Statistics at The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Professor Poon obtained her BSc in Mathematics in 1983 and MPhil in Statistics in 1985 from CUHK, and PhD in Biostatistics from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1987. Professor Poon was appointed in 1987 as Lecturer in the Department of Statistics at CUHK, and promoted to Professor in 2001. She has served as Associate Dean (Education) in the Faculty of Science in 2004-2014, and Director of the Centre for Promoting Science Education in 2006-2014. She was the Director of Centre for Learning Enhancement and Research (CLEAR) in 2012-2015, and was appointed as Associate Vice-President in 2014 and Pro-Vice-Chancellor in 2015, exerting leadership in teaching and learning at university level. Professor Poon has also assumed the role of Provost since 2025.

Professor Poon's outstanding teaching has earned her a number of accolades. She was conferred the inaugural UGC Award for Teaching Excellence by the University Grants Committee in 2011. She has led the development of a plethora of large-scale inter-institutional, inter-disciplinary and inter-sectoral teaching development projects, founded the HK Teaching Excellence Alliance, chaired and served as member in a number of key committees that drive educational developments, and steered the launch of innovative programmes such as the 2+2 collaborative programmes of CUHK and CUHK(SZ). Professor Poon has displayed unwavering commitment in education. Her distinguished leadership in programme development, quality enhancement and teaching excellence has been most impressive.