OSU Honors Alumnus Payson Cha with Distinguished Service AwardOregon State University honored Hong Kong business leader Payson Cha with its Distinguished Service Award at its annual commencement ceremonies on Sunday, June 13, at Reser Stadium.
Cha is an international entrepreneur, real estate developer and business manager - and an exceptional example of a successful family business leader.
He began his career as a young man when his father, Cha Chi-Ming, sent him to Nigeria to manage the family textile business. After his successful stint there, he came to OSU where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration in 1968, and was awarded a Sloan Fellowship to Stanford University. He graduated from Stanford with an MBA in 1973.
In the late 1970s, Cha's father asked him to return home to lead an effort by Hong Kong Resort International to transform a plot of 70 million square feet of featureless scrubland on Lantau Island into a worthwhile development. Within a couple of years, the first homes in the Discovery Bay residential complex went onto the market and sold out within hours.
Today, the Discovery Bay complex boasts a population of 13,000 people and stands as the Cha Group's flagship project in Hong Kong. That success propelled Hong Kong Resort International into a leadership role in the development and management of townhouses and community projects. Cha extended the family business into other sectors, including finance, investment, textiles, electronics and biotechnology.
An honorary trustee of the OSU Foundation, Cha has supported the Austin Family Business Program, the Weatherford Hall renovation, the International Business student exchange, and an exchange program between the College of Business and City University of Hong Kong.
Source: Mark Floyd | 
