21 September 2020

William Wong honoured as a Distinguished Friend of Oxford

The DFO award, founded in 1997, recognises those alumni and friends of Oxford who have given exceptional and sustained support to the University, its colleges, and departments over many years.

As a Rhodes Scholar and alumnus of Wadham College, William has been outstanding in his support of talented young Law scholars and a generous host and convener of the wider Wadham alumni and the Oxford Law alumni communities in Hong Kong.

A generous donor to the Hackney Law Fellowship at Wadham since 2009, William also established the Hackney BCL Scholarship at the College in 2015. The scholarship, which is named in honour of Jeffrey Hackney, an Emeritus Law Fellow of the College, is awarded annually on grounds of academic excellence and aptitude and covers both fees and maintenance costs. Wadham has one of the largest alumni groups of any Oxford College in Hong Kong and for more than a decade, William has been the host and convener of numerous talks and alumni reunions in the city, both with view to stimulating intellectual engagement and exchange between the UK and the Hong Kong Law communities, and in order to nurture wider collaboration and friendship.

In 2015, William established the Des Voeux Chambers Scholarship for the BCL programme in the Faculty of Law, open to any student considering entering the legal profession in Hong Kong. When a young Des Voeux barrister, Harry Liu, tragically died, William privately established the annual Harry Liu Scholarships in his memory.

Known for his great encouragement of young talent, William then established the Oxford Hong Kong Law Fellowship inviting academic exchange between the Law Faculties of Oxford and Hong Kong University. His purpose was to foster academic and intellectual exchange between the two participating Faculties and enhanced research between young academics in both Universities. He is notable, amongst all who know him, for his personal modesty and great intellect.