Professor Timothy W. Tong became President of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in January 2009. Previously, Professor Tong was Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) at The George Washington University in the United States. He received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley in 1980.  He is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and a Fellow of the International Thermal Conductivity Conference.

During Professor Tong's eight years as Dean of SEAS, the School grew from strength to strength. With an annual revenue of about US$50 million, the School has 230 full-time and part-time faculty members and approximately 2,500 students, almost 80 per cent of whom are postgraduate students. In 2004, the School ranked first in the percentage of engineering doctoral degrees awarded to women in the US.

Major organizations he has served include the US National Science Foundation Engineering Advisory Committee, the Board of Trustees of the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation, the School of Engineering Advisory Committee and the Mechanical Engineering Advisory Committee of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. From 2007 to 2008, he was the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Heat Transfer Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Professor Timothy W. Tong is participating in the What makes a truly global university? session.