In Memoriam: Betty May Foon Ho

AuthorWilliam P. Alford, Johannes MM Chan, Mayo Moran, Mariana Mota Prado, Anthony Sebok, and Zhenmin Wang
Pages2-16
2PROF. BETTY HOVol. 3:1
IN MEMORIAM: PROF. BETTY MAY FOON HO
WILLIAM P. ALFORD
I consider it a great privilege to have known Professor Betty Ho.
From the time I first met her many years ago in Hong Kong, it was
apparent that she was someone who brilliantly exemplified what I
admire most about education.
Professor Ho's dedication to learning, to the power of the truth,
and, most importantly, to her students and their potential was
immense. As an internationally recognized scholar of corporate,
commercial and financial law, she was the rare individual who
earned professorships on distinguished law faculties in several
countries. And yet, though she took justifiable pride in her
positions at the University of Hong Kong and the University of
Toronto, Betty was not one to rest content on her laurels. Instead
she felt an intense desire to do what she could to advance the rule of
law in China by tirelessly dedicating herself to training a new
generation of Chinese students.
Professor Ho was demanding of her students – not for its own
sake – but because of her deep faith in them and their ability to rise
to the challenges she posed, and her sense that nothing less would be
true or fair to them and to the future they represented for China. I had
the opportunity to bear witness to this in several ways. Betty never
asked me for anything for herself nor any favors for any students, but
she did one time ask if I would, on an informal basis, read several of
her students' examinations (randomly selected and without their
names on them) and grade them as if they were exams at my own
school. Her goal in this request, she indicated, was to see if she was
demanding as much from her students as my law school was
expecting from its students. I was delighted to be of help in so
worthy an undertaking and even more delighted when the papers
turned out to be of a very high quality indeed.
Henry L. Stimson Professor of Law and Vice Dean for the Gradu ate Program and International Legal
Studies, Director of East Asian Legal Studies, Harvard Law School.

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