David Akers-Jones was born in England in 1927. After graduating from Oxford University, he served for three years in Hong Kong in the Malayan Civil Service starting in 1957. He worked in the Hong Kong Government as Chief Secretary and Acting Governor from 1985 to 1987. He served as the first non-official Chairman of the Hong Kong Housing Authority from 1988 to 1993, and as a Hong Kong Affairs Advisor to China from 1993 to 1997.
Akers-Jones also worked as a chairman, president or vice-president of various charitable organizations. He authored an autobiography entitled Feeling the Stones and contributed frequently to The South China Morning Post newspaper.
Akers-Jones delivered the Beatty Lecture on September 22, 1994, titled “Hong Kong Horizons”.
Download a PDF of David Akers-Jones' Beatty Lecture transcript here.
Transcript: McGill University Archives
Image: Smile Asia Interntional