Tony Fan-Cheong Chan entered the academic sphere as a mathematician and computer scientist specializing in image processing and scientific computing. Born in British Hong Kong in 1952, he followed an international educational trajectory that led him from secondary studies in his home territory to a doctoral degree from Stanford University in 1978.
Academic Appointments and Research
Chan began his career at Yale University, where he taught computer science before transitioning to the University of California, Los Angeles in 1986. At UCLA, he served as the chair of the mathematics department starting in 1997 and acted as dean of physical sciences from 2001 to 2006. He played a primary role in the creation of the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics at UCLA, serving as its director from 2000 to 2001. Following his tenure at the National Science Foundation as an assistant director from 2006 to 2009, he maintained his connection to UCLA as a professor emeritus.
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The scope of his institutional influence expanded through his roles as a university president. From September 2009 to October 2018, Chan served as the third president of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Subsequently, he moved to Saudi Arabia to accept the position of third president at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, where he served from September 2018 to August 2024.
Professional Recognition
His technical contributions to computational models and numerical techniques for image processing earned him recognition within several professional bodies. He holds the status of Fellow at the IEEE, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. In 2014, he was admitted as a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He has also received honorary degrees from the University of Strathclyde in 2015 and the University of Waterloo in 2022.
Fast facts
- Born: 20 January 1952, Hong Kong
- Education: Caltech, Stanford University
- Fields: Mathematics, computer science, image processing
- Positions: President, HKUST (2009-2018)
- Positions: President, KAUST (2018-2024)
- Professional Membership: Committee of 100
- Status: Professor emeritus, UCLA
Questions readers ask
What subjects did Tony F. Chan study at Caltech?
He earned a Bachelor of Science in engineering and a Master of Science in aeronautics.
What is Tony F. Chan's current academic status?
He has been a professor emeritus of mathematics at the University of California, Los Angeles since 2009.
Achievements
- Held posts at University of California, Los Angeles, Yale University and National Science Foundation
- Fields: computer science, mathematics and informatics
