Dr. Sarah Mary Liao Sau-tung, GBS, MBE, JP, FRSC (born 25 December 1951) was former Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and a member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong since 2002. She was appointed on 1 August 2002 and served until 2007. She is also a Senior Adviser to the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong on Environmental and Sustainability Matters. Early life and career Education Sarah Mary Liao graduated from the Diocesan Girls' School and earned her bachelor's degree (chemistry and botany), master's degree (inorganic chemistry) and doctorate (environmental/occupational health) from the University of Hong Kong. She was also awarded a master's degree (analytical chemistry) by the University of Birmingham. Her brother is Dr. York Liao, a prominent Hong Kong businessman and councillor. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and an Honorary Professor in Civil Engineering at the University of Hong Kong. During her university years, Liao joined St. John's College as a residential member from 1970 and has served as the female sports captain from 1971–72. Early career Liao's career in environmental protection began in 1976 at the University of Hong Kong when she supervised the first government-funded annual air monitoring project. This program was designed to provide extensive background environmental data, which continued for five years. She then spent over seven years establishing and administering the program on Environmental Health & Safety at the University. Another area of work was the management of toxic and hazardous materials (chemical and biological) used in the University, including the procurement, storage, delivery, use, pre-disposal treatment and final disposal of these substances. At the same time she conducted large scale studies relating to workplace health and safety, hazard identification, risk assessment and environmental problems in a range of Hong Kong industries. Professional and political career Environmental consulting In 1988 Liao founded EHS Consultants Limited which provided a range of environmental services requiring specialist expertise. Projects in the 1990s included a comprehensive asbestos management consultancy for the Housing Authority, producing drafting instructions for the Asbestos Regulations under the Air Pollution Control Amendment Bill, major environmental impact assessments relating to Port and Airport Developments, and a territory-wide study on Indoor Air Quality. In 1997, EHS Consultants Limited merged with CH2M HILL Ltd., a US-based environmental consultancy firm with 12,000-employee and US$1.7 billion revenue, and Liao became the managing