上述公告提到，马斐森于2月2日发电邮给港大大学成员告知他的决定。他表示辞职的决定是基于个人原因，经与家人详细商量后作出，他将出任英国爱丁堡大学校长的职务。

香港大学校长辞职-马斐森校长离职邮件原文：

Dear colleagues, students, alumni and friends,

I am writing to inform you that I have resigned as your President and Vice-Chancellor, and I plan to leave HKU in January 2018. Thereafter I will take up a new appointment as Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh.

During my one year s notice period, it will be very important that there is no loss of momentum at HKU: the Senior Management Team is unanimously and heavily engaged in a process of rorm towards achieving our Vision of Innovation, Interdisciplinarity and Internationalisation converging on Impact, and being Asia s Global University. I will remain dedicated to the task and working hard with all of you to achieve our goals. The departure of one person must not be allowed to derail the progress being made at this great and venerable University.

It has been a distinct privilege to lead HKU for almost three years and I am sorry and somewhat surprised to be leaving bore the completion of my term. The HKU students, staff, alumni and friends are wonderful and I have thoroughly enjoyed working with you all: I regret that it was not for longer. There are very few universities in the world that could have tempted me to leave HKU but Edinburgh is one of them. I have many personal reasons for returning to the UK and I have decided after extensive discussions with my family to take this opportunity now.

I will leave HKU with a sense of great progress having been made during my time here. We have articulated a strategic vision for the next ten years of the University and put in place many of the rorms and modernisations that will be required to deliver that vision.

We have already greatly improved our international visibility, including new strategic partnerships with top universities in the US, UK and Australia and our pioneering dual degree agreements with the likes of University College London, Sciences Po and University of Southern California.

We have put together a superb Senior Management Team (SMT), rormed the reporting structures for senior academic staff including establishing a clear mandate from the SMT for the Faculty Deans, rormed academic career structures, staff review and development procedures and streamlined and made more transparent and objective our hiring, promotion and tenure decisions.

Ambitious proposals are well-advanced to rorm the budgeting of the University and ensure that our resources can be optimally deployed. We have established a recovery plan for Centennial College. We have radically improved the governance situation regarding the HKU-Shenzhen Hospital, including addressing the financial risks associated with the project and negotiating a detailed repayment schedule.

We have taken bold moves to address the University’s chronic shortage of accommodation for staff and students including purchasing and renting new sites; resolving a very longstanding issue around the lease for High West which will allow us to develop the site; collaborating with St John’s College on an exciting development plan; subdividing unduly large apartments and taking back from the private market numerous units for staff usage.

We have responded to the patchy results in Research Assessment Exercise 2014 by focusing attention on areas of concern, made strategic new hires, rewarded excellence and planned proactively for the next research assessment.

I have personally led forts to improve gender equity at HKU and we have made considerable progress: eg shifting the proportion of women at Dean level or above from 9% when I arrived to over 20% and rising now; hosting or co-hosting numerous events with like-minded organisations and generally making equal opportunities part of the daily dialogue at HKU; we have improved maternity leave and provision of breast-feeding facilities; mandated female representation on all search committees, appointments panels and shortlists and made dinite plans for a nursery on campus.

Perhaps most satisfyingly of all, repeatedly during the last three years we have articulated, promoted and dended the University’s core principles during a period of unprecedented political complexity in Hong Kong, ensuring that our students and staff can continue to flourish in an environment that respects their freedom of speech: long may this continue.

When I arrived it was clear that HKU already had many excellent staff and a superbly talented student body. We have continued to attract the brightest and best students and we have hired some wonderful new staff during my time here: they will help to take forward the bold plans that we have set out. As outlined above, my departure must not derail the progress or slow the momentum: I hope you will all give full support to my successor.

I am very optimistic about HKU’s future: it is a wonderful institution in a region of the world that is replete with further development potential. I hope to maintain a collaborative relationship with HKU in the future and to keep in close contact with you all. Tina and I will leave here with many friends and many happy memories. Thank you for giving us the honour of being part of the history of this distinguished University.

With very best wishes for the future,

Peter Mathieson

President and Vice-Chancellor

马斐森表示，港大这所在国际间备受尊重的学府，其发展步伐绝不会因他个人的离去而受到影响。此外，马斐森称他对港大的前景非常乐观，这所优秀学府所处的地域正有着无限的发展潜力，他期望未来能与港大保持协作关系，与大家紧密联系。

港大校务委员会主席李国章教授对马斐森的离任表示惋惜并尊重他的决定。李国章赞扬马斐森为港大的十年策略性发展奠定基础，他定下的“国际化、创新和跨学科教研，发挥大学的影响力，令港大成为亚洲的国际学府”的愿景将会延续下去，港大将要在学术上屡闯高峰，确立其亚洲国际优秀学府的地位。

马斐森是港大第15任校长，2014年4月履新，合约期为5年，即至2019年期满。由于目前马斐森已在一年的通知期内提出辞职，他将最晚于2018年1月正式离任。

2月2日当天，爱丁堡大学官网也发布了马斐森将出任下任爱丁堡大学校长职务的通告。

爱丁堡大学通告提到，马斐森称自己很享受在香港大学任职的时光，并对接下来将带领爱丁堡大学步入新的篇章充满期待。

此外，爱丁堡大学现任校长Timothy O Shea教授已于去年宣布，在担任爱丁堡大学校长一职长达15年之后，自己决定于2017年9月离职。

香港大学校长辞职消息就是上述介绍，此变动对于内地准备去的学生们并不会有影响，有更多的问题可以随时咨询老师!

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