Professor Shun Chi-Ming, SBS
Born in Hong Kong, with family roots in Shunde, Guangdong, Mr Shun Chi-ming graduated from St Paul's College, and from the University of Hong Kong in Bachelor of Science, with major in Physics. He joined the Hong Kong Observatory as Scientific Officer in 1986 and received professional training in nuclear radiation, meteorology and numerical weather prediction. Mr Shun specialized in aeronautical meteorology since the 1990s and introduced the most advanced doppler weather radar to detect windshear for the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) which opened in 1998. In the 2000’s, Mr Shun led a team of researchers to develop the world-first LIght Detection And Ranging (LIDAR) Windshear Alerting System for the HKIA. The system overcame the long-standing problem, faced by the world, of windshear detection under rain-free conditions, winning local awards and international recognition.
Mr Shun was promoted to Director of the Hong Kong Observatory in 2011. He issued the highest tropical cyclone warning signal, the ""Hurricane Signal Number 10"" three times during his term. Under the leadership of Mr Shun, the Observatory achieved very good results in the areas of public weather service, aviation weather service, public communication and public education, and won many local and international awards. Mr Shun retired in 2020.
Mr Shun had taken up several international positions, including the Chairperson of the Meteorology Subgroup of the Asia/Pacific Region of the UN International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) (2003-2009), and the President of the Commission for Aeronautical Meteorology (CAeM) of the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) (2010-2018). Mr Shun was the first Asian elected to take up this high position in WMO.