David C. Lam Institute for East-West Studies (LEWI) is a consortium of 28 universities from North America, Europe and Asia. The Institute, with Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) as the host institution and base, was established in 1993 with the aim to foster inter-disciplinary social science and humanities research and cultivate collaborative scholarship between the East and the West.

The Institute is named after Dr. David C. Lam, former Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia, Canada, who helped raise the funds for the construction of the David C. Lam Building, where the Institute was housed. His father, Dr. Lam Chi Fung, being the founding President of Hong Kong Baptist College (now University), was instrumental in laying down the foundations on which subsequent development of HKBU was based.

Over the years, the Institute has made strenuous efforts in performing and reconciling its dual roles as an international consortium of universities and a university-wide research unit. The institute currently focuses on four interrelated research themes (see below), positioning the Institute as an international hub for social science and humanities research. 

Kaxton Siu, Acting Director