Professor David Man has leading roles in tertiary institutions, exhibiting his professional experience in academic administration and research management. Before joining Tung Wah College, Professor Man was a Professor at the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and has been Director of the Mental Health Research Centre (MHRC) of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). He began his career as an occupational therapist at Haven of Hope Hospital and joined the then Hong Kong Polytechnic in 1989 as a Lecturer in Occupational Therapy (OT). He was appointed as an Assistant Professor in 1994, subsequently promoted as Associate Professor in 2002 and full Professor in 2012. In the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Professor Man served as Associate Head (Research) from 2017-2022. He has also held multiple administrative roles at the departmental and faculty level, including Chair of Departmental Research Committee and Departmental Staff Development Committee, as well as member of the Faculty Staffing Committee and Human Subjects Ethics Subcommittee. Professor Man has also won many competitive grants from different funding bodies.
Professor Man has a strong record of accomplishment in securing competitive grants from various funding bodies. He has acted as Principal Investigator in General Research Fund (GRF), Health and Medical Research Fund (HMRF), Innovation Technology Fund (ITF), Beat Drugs Fund, PolyU funds, other donation, or collaborative funds. Professor Man has been recognized as one of the top 2% scientists in rehabilitation worldwide, as listed in a global list released by Stanford University.
He has extensive experience in programme development and validation. At PolyU, he developed and obtained validation for the Bachelor of Science (Honours) in OT and the Master in OT. He also served as an internal validation panel member for the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Applied Ageing Studies and Service Management and the Master of Science in Mental Health Nursing programme. Professor Man was a member of the panel accrediting Programme Area Accreditation in OT for many years. He was also a Member of the Occupational Therapists Board’s Accreditation and Review Committee and an external validation panel member for the Certificate in Physical Rehabilitation programme at HKU SPACE.
Professor Man maintains strong connections with funding bodies and NGOs. He currently serves as a Member of Sciences, Medicine, Engineering and Technology Selection Panel for the Research Grants Council’s Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (2022-2024), a Research Council Member and Grant Review Board Member of the Health Bureau’s Health and Medical Research Fund (2011-Date), and an honorary advisor to various organisations.
In May 2023, Professor Man joined Tung Wah College as Vice President (Academic). With his extensive experience and track record, he is confident that he can assist the President of Tung Wah College in leading the institution towards its goal of becoming a private university.