The Hong Kong connection
“In the Chinese culture we always believe that life is a circle. The circle means that life is full . . . it’s perpetual. And so with any circle, there’s a starting point. My life circle essentially started at the University of Rochester. It’s where my intellectual growth began. If you look at this circle, there are different points along it for me: the University of Rochester, jobs all over the world, and different careers.
At the end of the day, it still started with the University of Rochester. My circle has to return there. You may ask, why? It’s because this will make my life complete—it will make it a full circle. That is a legacy, and it is my story at the University of Rochester. I started here, and when I’m gone, I hope that the education I received and also the work that I’ve done here to help other students will become a full circle again and again, perpetuated by each of them.”
—Evans Lam ’83, ’84S (MBA), Managing Director-Wealth Management at UBS Financial Services
“In the Chinese culture we always believe that life is a circle. The circle means that life is full . . . it’s perpetual. And so with any circle, there’s a starting point. My life circle essentially started at the University of Rochester. It’s where my intellectual growth began. If you look at this circle, there are different points along it for me: the University of Rochester, jobs all over the world, and different careers.
At the end of the day, it still started with the University of Rochester. My circle has to return there. You may ask, why? It’s because this will make my life complete—it will make it a full circle. That is a legacy, and it is my story at the University of Rochester. I started here, and when I’m gone, I hope that the education I received and also the work that I’ve done here to help other students will become a full circle again and again, perpetuated by each of them.”
—Evans Lam ’83, ’84S (MBA), Senior Vice President at UBS Financial Services
Benefactor helps bridge cultures, ideas, and people
Evans Lam is a member of the University of Rochester’s Board of Trustees and the national chair of the University’s leadership annual giving society, the George Eastman Circle. Over the years, he has supported the University in many ways, from establishing Lam Square in Rush Rhees Library to endowing the Susanna and Evans Y. Lam Professorship at the Simon Business School.
He also created the Evans Lam Study Abroad Scholarship, which sponsors five undergraduates annually to pursue scholarly exchange in Hong Kong, China. Additionally, he sponsors students from Hong Kong to study in Rochester.
Watch the video below to hear from some of Lam’s scholars, then scroll down to read some of the stories of a few others.
Building Connections
Global experiences build cultural literacy, foster understanding, and change our perspectives. To learn how you can support a cultural exchange program, contact Lisa Hall, Executive Director, College Advancement, at (585) 273-3619.
Grant Dever ’16, ’17 (T5)
Major: Business
Occupation: Barbara J. Burger iZone community manager, University of Rochester
Leyla Mouli ’19
Major: Environmental science
Minor: Sustainability
Hometown: Doula, Cameroon
Oluwatobi “Tobi” Abubakare ’18
Major: Language and brain development
Hometown: Houston, Texas (born in London, England)