We are delighted to announce that Uppingham's new day house is to be named after a pioneering OU - Dr the Hon Sir David Li Kwok Po.
Dr the Hon Sir David Li Kwok Po was the first pupil from Hong Kong to attend Uppingham, arriving in 1954 on the recommendation of the then Chairman of Trustees, Sir Harold Hewitt. On leaving Uppingham he studied mathematics at Imperial College, London, before reading Economics and Law at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He subsequently earned a professional qualification as Fellow of The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
Dr Li joined the Bank of East Asia in 1969, rising to become Chairman and Managing Director. Active in public affairs, he served on Hong Kong’s Legislative Council and Executive Council, and played a crucial role in the development of Hong Kong’s banking infrastructure for over 30 years.
Dr Li has served on the Board of Directors and Advisory Board of a number of leading international public companies, as well as well-known Hong Kong and mainland companies. He has been Pro-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong since 2001.
In 1982, Dr Li founded The Prince Philip Scholarship to support bright Hong Kong students to study for an undergraduate degree at Cambridge. To date, more than 250 students have benefitted from the scheme, which covers up to the full cost of an undergraduate education.
In the course of his lifetime, Dr Li has been awarded many honours including honorary doctorates by the University of Cambridge and Imperial College. He was made a Knight Batchelor in the Queen’s birthday honours in 2005 for services to British education, received The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon from the Japanese Emperor that same year, and was appointed Commandeur dans l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur by the French Government in 2012.
Dr Li has a 70-year-long connection with Uppingham School, during which time he has known and offered support and counsel to seven headmasters. An ever-generous OU, Dr Li founded the Friends of Uppingham School in Hong Kong in 2005 and served on the board for the next 14 years. He has supported numerous capital projects and bursary campaigns, countless pupils from Hong Kong have followed in his pioneering footsteps and attended Uppingham, and he was awarded a Fellowship of Uppingham in 2014.
His generosity and leadership have been of immense value to Uppingham over many decades and we are delighted to recognise his importance to the School with the naming of the new Day House in his honour.
