Professor Lawrence J. Lau earned his B.S. degree with Great Distinction in Physics from Stanford University in 1964, followed by his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley in 1966 and 1969, respectively. He became a Professor of Economics in 1976 and was appointed the first Kwoh-Ting Li Professor in Economic Development at Stanford University in 1992. Upon retiring from Stanford in 2006, he became Kwoh-Ting Li Professor in Economic Development, Emeritus. From 2004 to 2010, Professor Lau served as Vice-Chancellor (President) of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and from 2010 to 2014, he was Chairman of CIC International (Hong Kong) Co., Limited. Since 2007, he has concurrently held the Ralph and Claire Landau Professorship of Economics at The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Professor Lau is a Fellow of the Econometric Society, an Academician of Academia Sinica, and an Honorary Member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He has received honorary doctoral degrees from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Soka University, Waseda University, National Central University, Fudan University, and The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He also serves as an independent non-executive director for AIA Group Limited, CNOOC Limited, Hysan Development Company Limited, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, and Far EasTone Telecommunications Co. Ltd.