In memory of Professor Fong King Cynthia Lee (1962-2021)

Cynthia did her MA and PhD at IOE, then an independent institution in the University of London. Her 1995 doctoral thesis was entitled ‘Communicative Tasks, Strategy Use and Planning Time: Factors facilitating L2 acquisition in learner-learner interaction in an English-medium university in Hong Kong’. She maintained close links with IOE and had made significant contributions to connecting IOE and its alumni in Hong Kong. She was the Chair of the IOE Alumni Association in Hong Kong from 2017 to 2021. With her close contacts with the international office of IOE, the association has been able to organise pre-departure briefings for new students and meetings with scholars of IOE visiting Hong Kong. On top of this work, Cynthia was also instrumental in maintaining the relationship with IOE via meeting the directors after the formal merger with UCL.

Having worked in Hong Kong Baptist University and University of Hong Kong for almost two decades, Cynthia joined the Open University of Hong Kong (now Hong Kong Metropolitan University) in 2018 as Professor of Education-cum-Head of Department of Education in the School of Education and Languages. Apart from being the programme leader of its double degree on English Language Teacher Education programme, Cynthia’s main task was to support various research programmes. As well as being an active researcher and widely respected scholar, she played a major role in the Research Institute on Bilingual Learning and Teaching, through which she supported young colleagues’ publications and research grant applications.

Cynthia was well known for being supportive and caring. She was generous with her time in being a supportive research mentor to a number of young, early career colleagues in OUHK. She also managed to send her latest edited book to Routledge earlier this year. Cynthia will be greatly missed by the IOE community.

By Kwok Wah Cheung and Brian Lee