Events

“A lawyer’s perspective on the rule of law as a foundation for stable markets and international investment”

Speakers:

• Prof. Jim Gash – President and CEO, Pepperdine University
• Prof. Hualing Fu – Dean, HKU Faculty of Law
• (Moderator) Prof. Heiwai Tang – Associate Vice-President (Global), HKU & Associate Dean (External Relations), HKU Business School

Panellists:

• Prof. Kenneth Wong – Director & Kerry Group Professor in Public Policy, HKU School of Governance and Policy
• Prof. Jason Woodard – Co-Director, HKU School of Innovation
• Mr. Fred Li – Managing Director & Head of University Ventures, Gobi Partners
• Mr. Mark Ke Ma – Co-Founder, 1st Nation Sponsored Healthcare Fund in China Bank (Pepperdine Alumnus)
• (Moderator) Mr. Beaux Pontak – Managing Director, Deutsche Bank (Pepperdine Alumnus)

President and Chief Executive Officer

Pepperdine University

James A. Gash (JD ’93) is the eighth president and chief executive officer of Pepperdine University.

Prior to his presidency, Gash was the associate dean for strategic planning and external relations at the Pepperdine School of Law, where he also served as a professor of law and as director of the Sudreau Global Justice Program.

Since 2010 Gash has visited Uganda over 30 times with Pepperdine students to support the Ugandan judiciary and assist the country in its justice reform efforts. He is a specialist advisor to the High Court of Uganda and was named chancellor of LivingStone International University in Mbale, Uganda.

Gash is a member of the State Bar of California and the Christian Legal Society. He received his bachelor’s degree in finance, summa cum laude, from Abilene Christian University in 1989 and his juris doctor degree, summa cum laude, from the Pepperdine School of Law in 1993.

Dean & Warren Chan Professor in Human Rights and Responsibilities 

Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong

Prof. Fu holds the Warren Chan Professorship in Human Rights and Responsibilities and serves as the Dean of the Faculty of Law. He obtained an LL.B. from Southwestern University in China, an M.A. from the University of Toronto, and a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from Osgoode Hall.

Prof. Fu’s research interests lie in constitutional law and human rights protection, law and development, legal institutions and dispute resolution. He has published widely in those areas.

Prof. Heiwai Tang 

Associate Vice-President (Global), HKU

 Associate Dean (External Relations) & Victor and William Fung Professor in Economics, HKU Business School

Prof. Tang is Victor and William Fung Professor in Economics, Director of the Asia Global Institute and HKU APEC Study Center, as well as the Associate Director Institute of China Economy and the Hong Kong Institute of Economics and Business Strategy at the University of Hong Kong (HKU).

Prior to joining HKU, he was tenured Associate Professor of International Economics at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of Johns Hopkins University. He is also affiliated with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas (U.S.), the Center of Economic Studies and Ifo Institute (CESIfo, Germany), the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (Germany) and the Globalization and Economic Policy Center (U.K.) as a research fellow.

Prof. Tang has been a consultant to the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, the United Nations, and the Asian Development Bank; and held visiting positions at the IMF, Stanford, MIT, Harvard. He is currently an associate editor of the Journal of International Economics, the Journal of Comparative Economics and the China Economic Review. Since 2021, he has served on a number of public bodies, including the Currency Board Sub-Committee of the HKMA’s Exchange Fund Advisory Committee and the Minimum Wage Commission in Hong Kong.

Prof. Tang holds a Ph.D. in economics from MIT and a Bachelor of Science in mathematics from UCLA. His research interests span a wide range of theoretical and empirical topics in international trade, with a specific focus on production networks, global value chains, and China.

Director & Kerry Group Professor in Public Policy 

School of Governance and Policy, The University of Hong Kong

Prof. Wong is the Director of the School of Governance and Policy and The Kerry Group Professor in Public Policy at the University of Hong Kong. Previously, he was the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Professor of Education Policy, Professor of Political Science, and Professor of International and Public Affairs at Brown University, USA.

He also taught at the University of Chicago and Vanderbilt University. He serves as a non-resident Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution, Washington DC. He is an elected fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration in the U.S.

Prof. Wong has conducted extensive research in public policy, intergovernmental relations, and education governance. His research has received support from the National Science Foundation, the Institute of Education Sciences, the Bloomberg Philanthropies, British Council, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, and several foundations. He has authored or co-authored several books, including The Education Mayor: Improving America’s Schools. His co-authored book on the administrative presidency and federalism in the U.S. won the outstanding book award of the National Academy of Public Administration. He is currently editor of a research handbook on education policy and federalism across the globe.

Professor & Co-Director

School of Innovation, The University of Hong Kong

Prof. Woodard is a Professor and Co-Director of the School of Innovation at The University of Hong Kong, which he joined in 2025 to help prepare a new generation of innovators to tackle global challenges. Prior to HKU, he spent a decade at Olin College of Engineering, where he remains affiliated as a Senior Academic Partner.

Earlier in his career, he was a faculty member at Singapore Management University’s School of Information Systems and worked for IBM in technical and marketing roles. He received an A.B. from Princeton University and a Ph.D. from Harvard University in Information, Technology and Management. 

Managing Director & Head of University Ventures

Gobi Partners

Mr. Li has over 15 years of experience in private market transactions, management operations, and turnarounds as both a deal maker and a former General Manager. Fred holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and Finance from the University of Hong Kong and a Master of Science in Biotechnology from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) of HKICPA and Certified ESG Analyst (CESGA).

Mr. Li began his career as a restructuring advisory specialist at Deloitte. Later, he gained full-cycle deal experience and served on the board of directors of portfolio companies during his positions at VC and PE firms, including Senior Associate at Ocean Equity Partners (MFO), Vice President at CITIC CLSA Capital Partners, and Executive Director at Hywin International. He also gained practical experience in business management, successful turnarounds, and digital transformation as Group General Manager at Gaia Group, a 1,000-person task force company in his previous portfolio.

He has served as the lecturer, advisory committee, vetting panelist, trainer, and mentor for ecosystem partners such as Hong Kong’s Universities, NUS, BIOHK, BIOCHINA, HKSTP and Cyberport. Mr. Li has hybrid experience across technology and business strategy and operations, with a focus on university spin-offs, Healthcare & Biotechnology, AI+ and GreenTech.

Co-Founder

1st Nation Sponsored Healthcare Fund in China

Mr. Ma witnessed first-hand China’s economic transformation of the 1990s, playing an instrumental role in early state-owned enterprise reform and the establishment of China’s first venture capital institution. After completing his studies at Pepperdine University, he co-founded and operated multiple technology start-ups in California before returning to China to help shape its venture capital regulatory framework and support the founding of its sovereign wealth fund — drawing on the counsel of Stan Shih, founder of Acer, and Matthew K. Fong, former California State Treasurer.

He later co-established China’s firststate-supported healthcare sector fund, with investments spanning innovative drug research and development, critical supply chains serving Tesla and Apple, and NASDAQ-listed data asset management enterprises. A protégé of the Smiling Curve philosophy, his work reflects a deep understanding of where value is created across global industries, how interest is balanced among stakeholders, thus achieve sustainable growth. An ideal World Business Family is there.

Managing Director  

Deutsche Bank

Mr. Pontak is Managing Director and Co-Head of Deutsche Bank AG’s Global Finance & Credit Trading business in Asia Pacific. He also serves as Deputy CEO and Vice Chair of Deutsche Bank’s Hong Kong operations, and is a Non-Executive Director of Australian-listed Latitude Financial Services.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies (summa cum laude) from Pepperdine University.