experienced something of the old and a foretaste of the exciting
future at the recent CISAA (Computer and Information Science Alumni
Association)
Homecoming on 1 September 2007.
Introducing alumni to the School’s new home at Computing 1 (COM1),
CISAA Homecoming this year took in a nostalgic walk from memory lane
at the School’s former hub at S16 to the spanking new facilities at
COM1. Yet more meaningful, perhaps, for the many DISCS alumni
present at the gathering of over 70 people was a poster display of
Professor Yuen Chung Kwong. On it, alumni through the years put up
'postcards' to pay tribute to the teacher and mentor who was an
integral part of campus life. The poster echoed a
video that CISAA
members have made in his honour.Professor Yuen joined the then Department of Computer Science, the
predecessor of DISCS, in 1983. He took up the headship in 1984. He
retired on 30th June 2007, donating over S$74,000 from his Academic
Staff Provident Fund to the School to reward academic excellence and
support needy students.
In a tribute on his retirement, the School Management noted of
Professor Yuen, “With his vision of the potential impact of
information technology on society, he introduced information systems
education into the curriculum, expanded student enrolment eightfold,
and renamed the department the Department of Information Systems and
Computer Science -- or DISCS, as fondly referred to by thousands of
our alumni.”
In his acknowledgement, Professor Yuen unassumingly deflected credit
for the historical development that the department experienced
during his watch. Saying the change was put in motion before his
time, he accepted credit for only fleshing out the details within
the broader idea of combining information systems and computer
science. Even in the implementation of the plan, he attributed the
work to another long-time colleague in the department.
The unassuming response of Professor Yuen belies his accomplished
scholarly career. Besides being Associate Professor/Professor with
NUS from 1983 till his retirement in June 2007, he has also been an
adjunct professor in Computer Science at Shanghai Jiao Tong
University, and has held visiting positions at CSIRO Division of
Computing Research. He has also been Editor of Australian Computer
Journal, and External Examiner for University of Malaysia and Hong
Kong Polytechnic University, among other appointments. |
