The mind behind breakthroughs
CUHK’s inaugural Provost on AI, leadership and life
15 June 2026
Long before artificial intelligence (AI) became a household concept, Professor Benjamin Wah Wan-sang was already captivated by the idea that machines could think. That sense of wonder eventually led him – then a young researcher in the United States – into computer science, then into AI, and later back to Hong Kong, where he would help shape CUHK and the wider research ecosystem in his hometown with the same curiosity that first set him on his path.
Globally renowned for his pioneering contributions spanning areas most critical to computer science research, such as AI and multimedia, Professor Wah is widely recognised not only for his academic excellence but also for the indelible mark he has left on Hong Kong’s higher education and research landscape. He is among the very few scholars worldwide to have been elected Fellow of all three principal computing and scientific academies – the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the Association for Computing Machinery, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Over the years, Professor Wah has been connected to CUHK in various capacities – as a teacher, as the University’s first-ever Provost, and most recently, as an Honorary Fellow. “I received this honour with heartfelt gratitude,” he says, “not simply as an acknowledgement of my past service, but also a reflection of the enduring bond I feel with the University, its people, its mission, and its aspirations.”
AI pioneer: from moon exploration aspirations to the future of intelligence
Like most who grew up in Hong Kong, Professor Wah was accustomed to a learning environment where perseverance, propriety and etiquette were highly valued. Yet later, when he studied in the United States, he encountered a culture that placed emphasis not just on absorbing knowledge, but on asking questions, thinking independently and critically, as well as challenging assumptions. “Research is not simply about mastering a subject,” he says. “It is about curiosity and courage.”
That mindset stayed with him and shaped the way he moved across disciplines. Inspired at first by the moon landing, he initially wanted to study aerospace engineering. But when early calculators appeared, and computers began to reveal their extraordinary potential, he found himself drawn to another direction. He switched into computer engineering, and later, at UC Berkeley, immersed himself in computer science.
AI entered the picture slightly later, when he joined the University of Illinois and became involved in the Japanese Fifth Generation Computer Systems project. At the time, this vision of AI-enabled computing was years ahead of what available hardware could support. The ideas were bold, the resources limited, and success elusive. But the intellectual groundwork mattered. Looking back, he sees today’s AI boom as the result of technologies finally catching up with long-held aspirations.
Pursue scholarship and nurture the next generation
If AI has taught Professor Wah anything, it is that breakthroughs rarely happen in isolation. They require patience, supportive infrastructure and the courage to think beyond the present moment, not as an individual, but as a united group.
Determined to return to Hong Kong to pursue his career, he had already built a strong connection with CUHK. From 1998 to 1999, he taught a computer networks course to nearly a hundred undergraduate students, during which he assigned them an especially demanding task: to design a working network protocol simulator. He firmly believed that only through hands-on construction and repeated testing in solving real-world problems, students could truly build a solid foundation of knowledge.
During his stay in CUHK, a conversation with then Dean of Engineering Professor Omar Wing left a lasting impression. Academic life, he was reminded, was not only about research excellence or publishing papers; it was also about nurturing the next generation and contributing to Hong Kong and the country. The idea took deeper root over time, and when the opportunity for him to take up a leadership role at CUHK arose in 2009, he decided it was time to bring further value to the University.
The art of management: leading through listening and optimisation
Becoming the inaugural Provost of CUHK was, in his words, both a challenge and a responsibility. There was no ready-made playbook, and he chose to begin by listening. He met faculty across the University, held town hall meetings and visited departments one by one to understand their concerns. “There is always a unique model for CUHK,” he says. “CUHK is always unique in its own sense.”
His philosophy was to develop options, weighing their pros and cons, and bringing people along. It was a slow, demanding process, but one grounded in respect for the institution’s distinctiveness.
Advancing research for the benefit of society
That approach proved especially important during periods of transition. From the “3+3+4” academic reform to the early development of CUHK-Shenzhen, Professor Wah helped steer change while keeping the University’s core values in view. In building CUHK-Shenzhen, he believed the goal was never simply replication. What truly mattered was preserving the CUHK spirit – its standards, ethos and educational values – while allowing the new campus to develop its own identity under the “One Brand, Two Campuses” framework.
As Chairman of the Research Grants Council from 2013 to 2019, he saw firsthand how a robust research ecosystem depends on more than just money. Hong Kong’s funding environment improved significantly during those years. Still, for him, the larger issue was how to support different parties across a range of needs: small and large projects, curiosity-driven and application-oriented work, as well as individual excellence alongside interdisciplinary collaboration.
“A strong research culture cannot be built by funding alone.” He believes that universities and funding bodies must look beyond short-term metrics. After all, research impact lies not in citation counts or grant totals, but in the long-term difference made to society.
As the current Chairman of the InnoHK Steering Committee, he sees initiatives like InnoHK as building a bridge between academic research and industrial application, giving translational research a clearer structure in Hong Kong.
The art of balance in AI and more
Talking about the future of AI, Professor Wah is confident that it will continue to reshape the world. “It is here to stay for a long time,” he says. But he is equally clear that technical progress alone is not enough. Universities, in his view, must equip students not only with strong foundations in theory and method, but also with the ability to work across disciplines, keep learning, and think seriously about the ethical and social consequences of technology. For Professor Wah, the future of AI is not merely something to anticipate, but something universities have a responsibility to help shape. It is a conviction that continues to draw him back to campus, where he shares his experience with staff and students and invites reflection on the broader human questions that technological change inevitably raises.
In the end, perhaps the best metaphor for his life’s work comes from his own reflections on optimisation – a field closely linked to AI that seeks the best possible outcome under given constraints. “Life,” he says, “is much like solving a complex problem: many objectives, many constraints, no perfect answer – only better balances.”
By Eva Choy, Ella Cheung
Photos by Steven Yan
