About

Professor Angelina Yuen is Vice President (Student and Global Affairs) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). Professor Yuen graduated from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) with a Bachelor of Social Sciences in Social Work and Sociology in 1975, obtained a Master in Social Work from University of Toronto, Canada in 1978, a Master in Education from University of Manchester, England in 1983, and a Doctor of Philosophy (Social Work and Social Administration) from HKU in 1995. 

Before joining PolyU in 1986, Professor Yuen worked as a social worker, and taught at the Hong Kong Shue Yan College and the National University of Singapore. She was Head of the Department of Applied Social Sciences from 2004 to 2010 and concurrently as Associate Vice President from 2007 to 2010. 

Currently, Professor Yuen is a member of University Grants Committee. She was President of the Hong Kong Social Workers Association from 2000 to 2004 and is now the Honorary President of the Association. She has served as a board member of numerous Government commissions, NGOs and charitable foundations which include the Social Workers Registration Board, Hong Kong Council of Social Service, Hong Kong Young Women’s Christian Association, the Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council, Advisory Committee on Social Work Training and Manpower Planning, Hong Kong Press Council, Keswick Foundation, Community Investment and Inclusion Fund, the Ping Wo Fund and the Hong Kong Institute for Public Administration. She was appointed as a Justice of the Peace in 2002 and received the Bronze Bauhinia Star in 2008. 

Professor Yuen has been actively involved in the development of the social work profession in the Chinese mainland since the late 1980s and has played a leading role in developing the first Master in Social Work programme in the Chinese mainland in collaboration with Peking University and in facilitating the professionalization of social work in the Chinese mainland. She holds many honorary positions in the Chinese mainland and is Executive Committee member of the All-China Federation of Women, Council member of the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation, Panel of Expert of the China Social Work Registration and Accreditation Committee, Advisor of the China Social Work Research Centre of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Advisor of the China Social Workers’ Association, Co-chair of the Peking University-Hong Kong Polytechnic University China Social Work Research Centre, Co-director of the Sichuan University-Hong Kong Polytechnic University Institute for Disaster Management and Reconstruction. She is also the Founding Editor of the China Journal of Social Work published by Routledge, which is the first English language international refereed journal focusing on social work and social development in Chinese societies.

In the international arena, Professor Yuen is a key player in international social development. She was elected President (2008-2012) of the International Association of Schools of Social Work in July 2008. During her tenure as IASSW President, she has initiated numerous capacity building programmes for social work professionals in many developing countries and has launched a global e-magazine Social Dialogue which aims at providing an international platform for exchange and communication among members of the international social work community. She has been actively engaged in various other international organizations including the World Vision, International Consortium for Social Development, the China-Europa Forum, and the Global Institute of Social Work.