Biography

Vivian Wing-Wah Yam obtained her B.Sc. degree from The University of Hong Kong with First Class Honors in 1985 and her PhD under the supervision of Chi-Ming Che from the same university in 1988. After spending two years on the faculty of the then newly established Department of Applied Science at the City Polytechnic of Hong Kong (now City University of Hong Kong), she joined the Department of Chemistry at The University of Hong Kong as a faculty member in 1990. Between 1991 and 1992 she worked at the Imperial College London with the Nobel laureate Geoffrey Wilkinson. In 1995 she was promoted to Associate Professor, followed closely in 1997 by Full Professor and was appointed Chair Professor in 1999. She has served as Head of the Department on two terms for 6 years from 2000 to 2005, and is currently the Philip Wong Wilson Wong Professor in Chemistry and Energy and Chair Professor of Chemistry at The University of Hong Kong.

The major focus of the Yam research group is molecular design and synthesis of novel inorganic/ organometallic metal complexes for potential applications as functional metal- based molecular materials. Of particular interest are luminescent polynuclear metal complexes that show weak metal-metal interactions and luminescent metal complex and supramolecular systems of charge-transfer excited states, with d6, d8 or d10 metal centers. Through systematic study of electronic spectroscopy of the metal complex systems, fundamental understanding of the spectroscopic and luminescence origin as well as the structure-property relationship is established. Apart from their fundamental spectroscopic, mechanistic, electrochemical, photoluminescence (PL), and photochemical studies, potential applications as functional molecular materials are considered as optoelectronic materials, spectrochemical and luminescence chemosensors and biolabels, photochromic and photoswitching materials, supramolecular assemblies and organogels, molecular electronics and noanoclusters/nanomaterials.

Vivian Yam has been the recipient of several awards: Foreign Associate, National Academy of Sciences, USA (2012), Member, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2001), Fellow, TWAS, The Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (2006), L'OREAL-UNESCO Award For Women in Science - Laureate (Asia-Pacific) (2011), Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress (2011), Royal Society of Chemistry Centenary Lectureship Award & Medal (2005-06), State Natural Science Award (2005), Japanese Photochemistry Association (JPA) Lectureship Award for Asian and Oceanian Photochemist (Eikosha Award) (2006), Hong Kong Fulbright Distinguished Scholar (2007), Croucher Senior Research Fellowship (2000-01), HKU Distinguished Research Achievement Award (2006), Outstanding Researcher Award (1999), Ten Outstanding Young Persons (Professional) (2002); HKWPEA Outstanding Women Professionals and Entrepreneurs Award (2008)