Mr Yao Kang is the immediate past Chairman of the Council of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.  At the time of his retirement from the Chairmanship in December 1996, he was the Councillor with the longest service, having been a Member of the Provisional Council from 1982 to 1984, the first Treasurer from 1984 to 1988, Deputy Chairman from 1989 to 1994, and Chairman from 1995 to 1996.  Mr Yao has made invaluable contributions to the establishment, growth and development of the Academy.  He gave generously his time and attention to the affairs of the Academy in its strife for artistic and professional excellence to reach its present prestigious position as the flagship degree-granting institution of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region.

Mr Yao was born in Shanghai, China in 1925.  He was educated at St John’s University in Shanghai and Yenching University in Beijing.  He joined the Swire Group in 1948.  He is currently a director of a number of public and private companies in Hong Kong and overseas including John Swire & Sons (HK)Ltd, Cathay Pacific Airways, Hambro Pacific Holdings Ltd, Golden Harvest Entertainment (Holdings) Ltd, Sing Tao Holdings Ltd, Hsin Chong Construction Group Ltd and Garden Hotels (Holdings) Ltd in Guangzhou.  He is the deputy chairman of CITIC & Swire Air Services Ltd in Beijing and is a member of advisory board of Purifiner Inc in Florida.

On the side of community services in Hong Kong, his involvements include the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, Po Leung Kuk.  He was a lay assessor of the Rent Tribunal, and adjudicator of Illegal Immigrants, and an adviser to the Kowloon Magistracy.  He is a member of the scholarship committee of the Robert Black College of the Hong Kong University and a member of the governing board of Fudan University in Shanghai.  On account of his many community services he was appointed as a Justice of Peace in 1984 and honoured with OBE by the British Sovereign in 1990.