At the invitation of the State Key Laboratory of Structural Chemistry, Prof. Albert Chan from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University visited Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter (FJIRSM) in March 5th, 2010. During his stay, Prof. Chan delivered a seminar report entitled “Progress and applications of highly selective catalytic reactions” and carried out detailed discussion with the research staff of FJIRSM.

Prof. Albert Chan is currently vice president of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and chair professor of chemical technology of the university. He received his Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree from International Christian University in Japan in 1975 and his Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from the University of Chicago in 1979. Upon graduation from Chicago, he started an industrial career at the Monsanto Corporate Research Laboratories where he had worked for 13 years, through the ranks of Senior Research Chemist, Research Specialist, Senior Research Specialist and Monsanto Fellow. In 1992-1993 he taught at National Taiwan University as a Visiting Expert. From 1994 to 2005 he served as Head of the Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. From 2004 to 2007 he was Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science and Textiles.

Prof. Chan is a Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (elected in 2001) and is a recipient of numerous prestigious awards including the National Natural Science Award of China (second class), Japan Society of Synthetic Chemistry Lectureship Award, and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Invitation Fellowship. His research interests include asymmetric syntheses and their Industrial Applications; development of pharmaceutical products and related processes; pharmaceutical and nutritional products based on Chinese medicines; and new process sciences and their industrial applications

Prof. Chan has been granted more than 20 United States patents, some of which have been licensed to major global corporations. Some of the technologies he developed are now used in industry. He has published 6 books and more than 350 SCI papers.