Dr. Jung Kong Lee (; December 1924 – 31 January 1990) was a Hong Kong-born American-educated chemist and politician. He was member of the Hysan Lee family and a chemist at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

. He was also a member of the

Hong Kong Basic Law Consultative Committee The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Basic Law Consultative Committee (BLCC; 香港基本法諮詢委員會) was an official body established in 1985 to canvass views in Hong Kong on the drafts of the Hong Kong Basic Law. Background The f ...

Biography

Lee was born in 1924 into the prominent Lee family. His father, Hysan Lee, was a multi millionaire who was nicknamed the "King of Opium". He served in the National Revolutionary Army during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, in which he was an interpreter for General Joe Stillwell's army in the China Burma India Theater. He attended Lingnan College before he moved to the United States, where he attended

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

, majoring in chemistry and attaining membership in

Sigma Xi Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society () is a highly prestigious, non-profit honor society for scientists and engineers. Sigma Xi was founded at Cornell University by a junior faculty member and a small group of graduate students in 1886 ...

. He was also a member of the

Campus Club Campus Club was one of the undergraduate eating clubs at Princeton University The eating clubs at Princeton University are private institutions resembling both dining halls and social houses, where the majority of Princeton upperclassmen eat t ...

. In 1955, he received a doctoral degree in chemistry and took up a post-doctoral study at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

, before he joined the chemistry department at the

. He returned to Hong Kong in 1980 to take up the directorship of his family business Lee Hysan Estate Co. and then the Hysan Development Co. In 1985, he was appointed member of the

for drafting the

Basic Law of Hong Kong The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China is a national law of China that serves as the organic law for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). Comprising nine chapters, 160 ar ...

, the mini-constitution for the post-1997 Hong Kong, in which he was part of the

Group of 89 The Group of 89 or Business and Professional Group of the Basic Law Consultative Committee was a conservative political pressure group formed by the conservative business and professional elites led by tycoon Vincent Lo in the Hong Kong Basic Law ...

a conservative faction consisting of businessmen and professionals. In 1989, he became the founding chairman of the

New Hong Kong Alliance The New Hong Kong Alliance (, abbreviated 新港盟; NHKA) was a pro-Beijing conservative political organisation in Hong Kong in the 1990s mostly composed of businessmen and professionals. It was considered the more conservative wing of the Group ...

which emerged from the Group of 89.

Personal

Lee's wife is Ingrid. Lee had a son Oliver. On 31 January 1990, Lee died in Kansas City, Missouri, United States after a lengthy illness. He was 65. He was survived by his wife, son, his mother, Mrs. Hysan Lee; three brothers and five sisters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Jung Kong 1924 births 1990 deaths Chinese military personnel of World War II Alumni of Lingnan University (Hong Kong) Princeton University alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni University of Kansas faculty Hong Kong scientists 20th-century American chemists Hong Kong emigrants to the United States Progressive Hong Kong Society politicians New Hong Kong Alliance politicians Hong Kong expatriates in the United States