Born in Hong Kong, Dr. Tuan received his Ph.D. in Life Sciences in 1977 from Rockefeller University in New York. His extensive academic career began in 1980 as a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Biology. In 1988, he joined Thomas Jefferson University (in Pennsylvania) as Director of Orthopaedic Research, and Professor and Vice-Chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. While at Jefferson, Dr. Tuan established the first Cell and Tissue Engineering Ph.D. program in the United States.
Dr. Tuan was recruited to the University of Pittsburgh in 2009 and served as the Arthur J. Rooney Sr. Chair in Sports Medicine and Executive Vice Chairman for Orthopaedic Research in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. He joined CUHK in 2016 as a Distinguished Visiting Professor and Director of the Institute for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine. He was later promoted on Jan. 1, 2018 as CUHK’s eighth Vice-Chancellor and President.
Dr. Tuan’s reappointment as CUHK’s President pleased and surprised many people after what transpired during his second year in that position. Dr. Tuan was accused of supporting students involved in Hong Kong’s Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement, also known as the 2019 Hong Kong protests.
The police violently suppressed the protests. Tens of thousands of HK residents were arrested for opposing the upcoming passage of the “Hong Kong version of the National Security Law” in 2020. Originating in Beijing, the law intended to severely impede what remained of Hong Kong’s freedoms of speech and media.
As the protests escalated, CUHK’s students began throwing objects and disrupting traffic near the campus, which prompted the Hong Kong police to open fire on students with pepper bullets and tear gas. This incident would eventually be known as the Siege of the CUHK.
While the violence on campus was raging, on November 11, 2019, Dr. Tuan visited the scene to help mediate the situation. He asked the police to retreat and was assisting the many injured students when the police lobbed tear gas at the group. For his bravery under fire, he promptly gained the respect of protestors and students.
Lau Kwok-fun, also a CUHK board member and pro-establishment Legislative Council member said Tuan’s governance during the protests was “not firm,” but he hoped a new strategy would be implemented “to get rid of the ’tyrannical university' label.” Another CUHK board member and pro-establishment legislator, Alice Mak, likewise hoped Tuan would “shed the stigma of CUHK as a tyrannical university.
Dr. Tuan stressed that the university was not exempt from the law and would cooperate with police authorities. When asked about helping the arrested students, Tuan said they are over 18 years old and “adults should be responsible for their own actions.”
A third-year student expressed concern that Tuan’s political stance may change in the future. He said it “has disappointed many CUHK students” that Dr. Tuan accepted an advisory board position one week ago with Lee Ka-Chiu, the only candidate for Hong Kong’s new chief executive.
Further alarming students at the end of 2021, CUHK removed the Goddess of Democracy statue that had stood on the campus for over 11 years. In response to the concerns, the university claimed it never authorized the placement of the statue. But this contradicts a statement made in 2010 by CUHK’s president Joseph Sung, who was quoted as saying, “It is a fact the statue was put up, and the university will not suppress any voices.”
