Honourable Judges (Past & Present)

Prof. Stephen Andrews | Head of Division of Language and Literature, Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong

Professor Stephen Andrews has more than 35 years' experience in education in a variety of contexts. Since graduating from the University of Cambridge in 1970, he has worked in schools, universities and on educational development projects in France, Germany, Switzerland, Mexico, Egypt, Sudan, Thailand and the UK. His main research interests relate to L2 teachers professional development (in particular, their language awareness) and the relationship between assessment and the curriculum.

Prof Gillian Bickley | Recently retired as Associate Professor, Hong Kong Baptist University (Proverse Hong Kong)

Gillian Bickley is Managing Editor, Proverse Hong Kong and formerly Associate Professor, Department of English Language & Literature, Hong Kong Baptist University. She has lived in Hong Kong for more than thirty years, teaching at the University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Baptist University. She taught previously at universities in Nigeria and New Zealand, and has lectured throughout Britain, the USA and Asia. Her 2007 poetry collection, "Sightings" is illustrated with her own photographs of Hong Kong and elsewhere.

Dr Verner C. Bickley, MBE | Chairman, Executive Committee, The English-Speaking Union, Hong Kong

Dr Verner Bickley, MBE, Ph.D., was born in England and educated at the University of London. He has held varied university, government and British Council positions including at senior levels, in Singapore, Burma, Indonesia, Japan, Hawaii, Saudia Arabia and Hong Kong. He is currently an Honorary Research Fellow, Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong and Chairman, Proverse Hong Kong. Dr Bickley has had extensive radio and television experience with the then BBC Far Eastern Station; NHK, Tokyo; Radio Republik Indonesia and Radio Singapore. He is the author of more than twenty textbooks and articles on international education, language and culture. His new book, "Forward to Beijing! A Guide to the Summer Olympics" contains several photographs with local Hong Kong & Asian interest.

Ms Susan Breen | Manager, Media Sales, Asia, Reuters Media

Ms Susan Breen is the Media Sales Manager of Asia of Reuters Media, the world’s most trusted news organization, deliver intelligent information for businesses and professionals.

Ms Adele Bryant | New Zealand Consulate-General

Adele Bryant has been a New Zealand diplomat for twenty years. During this time she has enjoyed postings to Vanuatu in the lovely South Pacific, vibrant Kuala Lumpur, romantic Rome and, now, the role of Consul-General in dynamic Hong Kong. Her husband, Gerard, and three children have experienced global education and happily have thrived on meeting new people and learning new languages and cultures. She wishes they had been able to participate in an innovative programme like ThinkSeries 2010. She hopes all participating students have fun and benefit from new skills and ways to cooperate learnt on the programme.

Mr Lambert Chan | Marketing Consultant

Mr Chan is a seasoned marketing professional for the last 20 years. He is former Managing Director, Cards and Loans at DBS Bank. He also held senior management positions at Hong Kong Telecom, Citibank, and Hong Kong Tourism Board. He has led many innovative and global marketing projects, including One2Free, the Post-SARS tourism revival campaign, and the 2006 Discover HK Campaign.

Ms Cindy Cheung | Hong Kong Parents Association

Cindy was once the vice chairman (external affairs) of Wongtaisin PTA. I have over 20 years experience in multi-national firm to work with management team.
Comments for 2009 Entries

Ms Susanna Chiu | Council Member of HKICPA

Ms Chiu is council member of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants and President of the Institute of Accountants Exchange.

Ms Mickey Choi | Senior Project Officer, Hong Kong Independent Short Film & Video Awards (ifva).

Mickey graduated from Lingnan University with a Major in Translation. She started her career in Independent Film / Video production and Art Administration since 2000. In 2004, she finished her first video “A Letter Life” which is granted by Hong Kong Arts Development Council. In 2005, she took a film production course in Asian Film Academy which is co-organized by Pusan International Film Festival, Korean Academy of Film Arts and Korean Film Commission in Korea. Currently, she is the Senior Project Officer of ifva.

Ms Laura Cozijnsen | Chief Branding Consultant, Lighthouse Consultant Ltd

Ms Cozjinsen is the Founder of Lighthouse Consultant Limited, Laura is a marketing veteran and is regularly invited by various industries and academic bodies to share on topical issues regarding marketing business practices and public speaking, organizations include AIG, HKPC, HKUST, HKBU etc.

She is also the Champion for 2006 HK Masters of Ceremony Competition - Individual and Group Category. Ms Cozjinsen is an experienced MC for prominent corporate events, such as Hong Kong Designers Association, Philips Electronics Hong Kong Limited, HK Science and Technology Parks Corporation, Standard Chartered Bank (HK) Ltd.

Dr Matthew Clarke | Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong

Dr Matthew Clarke has considerable experience in research and teaching, as well as in educational leadership and administration. After studying philosophy and politics at Oxford University, he started his career in education as a teacher in London in 1987. Since then, Dr Clarke's responsibilities have ranged from an early childhood educator to a lecturer at the University of Melbourne, where he also completed his PhD. His research interests include teacher identify and language and literacy education, and he is currently leading a project to promote the new literacy practices needed for the multimodal, digital age in Hong Kong schools.

Ms Theresa Cunanan | Lecturer, College of International Education, Hong Kong Baptist University

Ms Cunanan is a lecturer in the College of International Education at Hong Kong Baptist University. She teaches English and English Literature. Her research interests include Literature and Language Arts, Film Studies and Minority voices in Hong Kong Education. In her spare time she enjoys cosmic moments of paranormal motherhood and new-found interests in photo-journalism.
Comments for 2009 Entries

Mr David Glasscock | Non-Executive Director, Wiseman Education

Mr Glasscock loves photography and has commenced studies in a Diploma in Photography (RMIT). He was born in Australia and has gained extensive experience in marketing, sales, consulting, presentation and management throughout Asia. Accolades include awards for recognition of professional photography.
Comments for 2009 Entries

Mr Christoph Hafner | Department of English, City University of Hong Kong

Mr Hafner is a lecturer in the Department of English, City University of Hong Kong. He has taught in Hong Kong for the past nine years and prior to that in New Zealand and France. His research interests include Educational Technology, Legal Discourse, and Academic and Professional Literacy. In his spare time he enjoys playing guitar and has been known to write songs or rearrange the lyrics of well-known songs for special occasions.

Prof Lusina Ho | Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong

Lusina Ho is a Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Hong Kong. She specializes in Trust Law. She received a University Teaching Fellowship (for excellence in teaching) in 1999 and an Outstanding Young Researcher Award in 2006.

Ms Rachel Hodson | Director, Paradigm Training

Rachel Hodson has over fifteen years’ experience as a communications skills trainer. She received her Bachelor’s degree in the U.K., her Postgraduate Certificate in Education from HKU and her Master of Science in Training from Leicester University, UK.

Mr Gerard Hutching

Gerard Hutching is a New Zealander whose career combines his interests in writing and teaching. Starting off in bread and butter journalism, he has branched out to write books on subjects ranging from Rome to New Zealand's endangered birds and its geology. He also enjoys teaching English, a subject he has taught in countries as diverse as Vanuatu, Malaysia, Italy and Hong Kong.

Mr Faizul Jais | Senior Producer, National Geographic Channel Asia/ Fox International

Mr. Jais is the Senior Producer for On-Air Promotions. He has launched and branded numerous channels and produced over 350 hours of entertainment programming during his career with NGC Asia, ASTRO and Channel [V] International.

Dr Qin Jiang | WIDE World, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Dr Jiang is an expert in applied linguistics and teacher training. After graduating from Fudan University, she taught in the English Department at Fudan for five years, and then completed her M.Ed. at Harvard University. She received her Ph.D. degree in Applied Linguistics from City University of Hong Kong. She is now in charge of an international programme at WIDE World, Harvard University.

Mr Nathan Johnston | Programme Director, Small World Project

Mr Johnston's studies, research, and work range from technology to documentary and ethnographic film to how people learn and overcome misconceptions. After completing his B.Sc. studies at Stanford University, he worked at Apple Computer and later worked in Europe and Indonesia. In June 2007, Nathan completed his M.Ed. in Arts in Education at Harvard University.

Mr Burman Lam | Producer of National Geographic Channel Asia

Mr Lam is a successful international producer from Canada with many years of experience in commercial production. He has kindly produced Making a Documentary for this event.

Mr Godfrey Law | Hong Kong Parents Association

Mr Godfrey Law is the Member the Executive Council and founder of Hong Kong Parents Association.

Dr Francis Lee | Associate Professor, School of Journalism and Communication, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Dr Francis Lee received his PhD from Stanford University (Department of Communication, 2003) and was teaching at City University of Hong Kong previously. His is currently working in The Chinese University of Hong Kong as an associate professor of the School of Journalism and Communication. His research focuses mainly on journalism and media studies.

Mr Calvin Cheuk Ho, Leung | World Emergency Relief Hong Kong (WERHK)

Mr Leung graduated from the University of Queensland with major in Business. He is now working in an international humanitarian organisation based in Hong Kong, to help people in need, primarily children and their families

Prof Adam Lui | Former Head of History Department, The University of Hong Kong

Professor Lui taught at the History Department, the University of Hong Kong, for over thirty years. He was a British Commonwealth Scholar, a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University and a Fulbright professor at Penn State University. He published widely both internationally and locally both in English and Chinese. He is currently helping the PRC Government to revise Qing history.

Mr Richard McGeough | Language Training Consultant, Centre for Professional & Business English, Hong Kong Polytechnic University

He has 17 years' experience in English language teaching and teacher training, including 10 years in HK. He has also worked in the UK, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Poland. Richard is also a qualified teacher trainer and has worked extensively with novice and experienced English teachers to help them develop approaches and techniques that make language learning long-lasting and effective. He is also a keen photographer.

Mr Bill McQueen | Creative Director of National Geographic Channel Asia

Mr McQueen is the Creative Director of On-air Promotions. He is also the founder of one of Australia's longest running childre's shows, Cheez TV. He has worked for such well-known brands as MTV, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network.

Mr Ducan Pitcairn | Television Editor, Reuters Asia

Based in Singapore, Duncan leads a team of more than 100 full-time staff and stringers in 20 television bureaux, covering vast expanses stretching from Afghanistan in the west to Tonga in the east. Before working for Reuters, Duncan was Producer with BBC World Service Television. Duncan spent much time in Iraq and the former Yugoslavia before moving to Washington, D.C. Duncan returned to London in 2000 as Output Editor on the World News Service, before becoming Deputy Regional Editor for Europe, the Middle East and Africa in 2002. He took over the Regional Editor's role at the end of 2003, before assuming his current position as Television Editor for Asia, in December 2004.

Mrs Sherry Preiss | Vice President of Multimedia for Pearson Education

Mrs. Preiss is the Vice President of Adult, Higher Ed., and Multimedia Publishing for Pearson Longman ELT. She worked for many years as an EFL/ESL teacher, administrator, and international educational consultant for Longman. She has been the plenary speaker at major conferences in the U.S., Europe, Latin America and Asia. Sherry Preiss also teaches a graduate course on Learner Assessment for the New School University in New York and is the author of one of Longman's best selling textbooks, NorthStar: Listening and Speaking, Advanced.

Dr Timothy Taylor | Senior Teaching Fellow, Department of English, Hong Kong Institute of Education

Dr Taylor is an applied linguist with a keen interest in world cultures. His 20 years of experience in education includes teaching at primary, secondary and university levels in places as diverse as China, Israel, Papua New Guinea and the USA. In his current position, he is a teacher trainer and conducts research on immersion language programmes and language assessment.

Ms Nicole Tavares | Teacher Educator, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong

Nicole Tavares specialises in English Language Education and is dedicated to promoting quality teaching and learning in Hong Kong schools. She works very closely with secondary school teachers in integrating the language arts into the classroom and is adjudicator for a number of major speech competitions.
Nicole received the Distinguished Teacher Award in 2006 for her teaching achievements and contributions to the community. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, travelling, photography and making handicrafts.
Comments for 2009 Entries

Prof. Adam Tolnay | Researcher, Persuasive Technology Lab, Stanford University and Independent Social Entrepreneur

Adam Tolnay is a veteran social entrepreneur who has launched two social media related for-profit organizations and four global English language education-related non-profit enterprises. A graduate of Harvard College, the London School of Economics, Harvard University, Georgetown University and years spent at McKinsey & Company, Adam has two decades of studies focused on economic development via education and nearly a decade of involvement in launching educational projects in Asia. His previous non-profit projects include Leaning Enterprises, The Learning Foundation India and PANANGO. His for-profit projects are Y-Fi (Youth Financial Literacy) and East Africa Risk Analytics. Adam is currently commuting between Stanford University were he conducts projects at the Persuasive Technology Lab, Stanford University, and China where he is launching ValuEd China.

Ms Marianne Vardalos | Assistant Professor, Laurentian University at Georgian College, Ontario, Canada

Marianne Vardalos received her Ph.D from York University where she was also a postdoctoral researcher for the SSHRC-MCRI project, Diaspora, Islam and Gender. Her areas of interest include globalization and travel, cultural studies and critical theory. She has published articles on US foreign policy, critical tourism, and presented on state violence, and globalization as the expansion of the Euro-American empire. She is one of the founders of the Human Condition Series, an annual, multidisciplinary conference www. humancondition.com.

Dr Ruth Wong | Senior Teaching Fellow, Department of English, Hong Kong Institute of Education

Dr Ruth Wong is a senior teaching fellow in the Department of English at HKIE. She had published teaching resource books on language arts and research articles on second language acquisition, English learning motivation and ESL teaching methodology in international journals.
Comments for 2009 Entries

Dr Louis Woo | Non-Executive Director, Wiseman Education

Dr Woo is the Chief Advisor of Inventec Corporation. He holds B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees from Stanford University. He taught at State University of New York at Albany, University of Chicago, and at Stanford University before he became General Manager of Apple Computers. He was also consultant to USAID, UNESCO, and the World Bank. Louis is also English Builder's curriculum advisor.

Dr Anson Yang | Principal, King Ling College

His research interests are in popular literature and the use of mass media materials for teaching and learning.

Mr King-Fai Yeung | Senior School Development Officer of Education Bureau

Mr Yeung is one of the key members of the EDB who initiated the Business-school Partnership Programme.