Professor Wai Keung LI received his Ph. D. in Statistics from the University of WesternOntario, Canada in 1981.
His major research area is time series analysis and quantitative risk management. Hejoined the National University of Singapore in 1981 and then the University of Hong Kong in 1983. He was promoted to Chair Professor in 2000. Before stepping down on September 1 st , 2017 he has served four 3-year terms as Head of the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, University of Hong Kong. He served as the President of the Hong Kong Statistical Society from 2000 to 2003.

He is now serving as the Director, Big Data Research Cluster, Faculty of Science and Director of the recent Master of Data Science Program at HKU. Professor Li is an elected Fellow of the American Statistical Association and the Institute
of Mathematical Statistics. Other awards and honors include Outstanding Research Student Supervisor Award and Outstanding Researcher Award from the University of Hong Kong; Croucher Foundation Senior Research Fellow; Outstanding Service Award, International Chinese Statistical Association and Honorary Member, Hong Kong Statistical Society .