The head of Hong Kong’s City University, Professor Freddy Boey Yin Chiang, has resigned with immediate effect for personal reasons, leaving his post two years earlier than expected.

The university expressed its gratitude to Boey, a Singaporean, for his contributions to CityU during his three years as president.

“The executive committee of the [university’s] council has appointed provost and deputy president Professor Lee Chun-sing as acting president with immediate effect to ensure continued operation. The council will provide full support to ensure stability during the transition,” it said on Friday.

It added that a global recruitment exercise for the next president would be launched shortly.

A source on the council said Boey’s five-year contract was supposed to run until 2028.

Boey, an expert in biomaterials engineering, became CityU’s fifth president in May 2023.