Professor Chan is Adjunct Professor and Senior Advisor to the Dean at HKUST Business School.  He was appointed as Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region from July 2007 to June 2017.  Prior to that, he was Dean of Business and Management in the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). Before joining the HKUST Business School in 1993, Professor Chan had spent nine years teaching at Ohio State University in the United States.

Professor Chan received his bachelor's degree in economics from Wesleyan University and his M.B.A. and Ph.D. in finance from the University of Chicago. He specialised in assets pricing, evaluation of trading strategies and market efficiency and has published numerous articles on these topics.

Professor Chan held a number of public service positions including Chairman of the Consumer Council, Director of the Hong Kong Futures Exchange, and Member of the Commission on Strategic Development, Commission on Poverty, the Exchange Fund Advisory Committee, the Hang Seng Index Advisory Committee, and the Hong Kong Council for Academic Accreditation. He was former President of the Asian Finance Association and President of Association of Asia Pacific Business Schools.