At its May 2018 Board meeting, the Lingnan Foundation Board of Trustees bid farewell to one of its longest serving trustees, Edward C. Chow, and welcomed the newest trustee, Dr. Ling Li.
Edward C. Chow
Edward C. Chow had been on the board of trustees of Lingnan Foundation since 2000 and served as its board chair from 2010 to May 2016. Currently serving as senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC, Mr. Chow is an international energy expert specializes in oil and as investments in emerging economies with more than 35 years of industry experience, working in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, South America, Europe, Russia, Black Sea and Caspian regions. He has advised governments, international financial institutions and major multinational corporations on policies, business strategy, as well as successfully negotiated complex, multibillion-dollar, business ventures.
Chow spent 20 years with Chevron Corporation in U.S. and overseas assignments. He was head of international external affairs at headquarters in California and also Chevron’s country manager for China, based in Beijing, from 1989 to 1991. Chow was born in Shanghai and grew up in Hong Kong. He is a graduate of Ohio University with a bachelor’s degree in economics and government and a master’s degree in international affairs. He has published articles in leading academic and foreign policy journals on global energy developments, spoken on energy at international conferences, universities, and think tanks around the world and appeared on major international media.
Edward Chow mentoring Lingnan W.T. Chan Fellows at Leadership Retreat in December 2017.
Of Mr. Chow, Lingnan Foundation Board Chair, Dr. Chui L. Tsang, said “I will miss Ed’s wise counsel and his historical perspective on the Foundation. He had a great understanding of our long-time partners and truly embodied the Lingnan spirit of service.”
That spirit of service came through to the many Lingnan W.T. Chan Fellows he has mentored over the years. Dr. Ding-Jo H. Currie, President of Lingnan Foundation, recalled that “Ed was someone we could always depend on to give of his time, expertise, and leadership experience to the Fellows. We will sorely miss his presence on the Board.”
Ling Li
Lingnan Foundation Trustees also welcomed Dr. Ling Li, to join its Board at its May meeting. Chair Tsang noted Mr. Li’s experience working on Luce Foundation programs that bridge the U.S. and China are particularly needed to our Board. “It will be good to have Ling’s experience with the Luce Scholars Program. We look forward to the many connections he will be able to make for our grantees in China.”
Ling Li has directed the Henry Luce Foundation’s Luce Scholars Program since 2009 and concurrently serves as the program officer for the Foundation’s Asia Program.
Of his appointment, Mr. Li said “The mission of the Lingnan Foundation aligns well to my past work and I’m very supportive of its mission. I am honored to have been selected as a Lingnan Foundation Trustee.”
Previously he served as the director of transnational initiatives at the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and practiced law at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, both in New York. He also worked for the International Organization for Migration, an intergovernmental agency, as a program officer in its Geneva Headquarters and Washington, D.C. and Vienna Missions. A native of Wuhan, China, Li studied at the Institute of International Relations in Beijing from 1988-1991 and returned to Beijing in 1996 to serve briefly as the Special Assistant to the Bureau Chief of the New York Times.
Mr. Li is the English-to-Chinese translator of a few books on art and literature, including The Accidental Masterpiece: On the Art of Life and Vice Versa by Michael Kimmelman, and Confessions of a Young Novelist by Umberto Eco.
He has a B.A. in comparative literature from Brigham Young University, a Master’s degree in international relations from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, and a J.D. from Columbia University Law School.
The Lingnan Foundation, an American philanthropy founded in 1893 in New York, seeks to contribute to the advancement of higher education in South China and thereby promote understanding between the peoples of the two countries. To learn more about the Lingnan Foundation, please contact Dr. Ding-Jo Currie at 714-371-4118, or email at Info@LingnanFoundation.org.
