In July 1976, Mr. Robert N. Rayne retired and returned to England. Dr. Tam Sheung Wai, the President-designate, specially went to Kai Tak Airport to bid him farewell.

Mr. Robert Needell Rayne (1913–2000), whose family home was in Lincolnshire, England, was born in Kenya, Africa. In the 1930s, he read Classics (Greek and Latin Literature) at the University of Oxford, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts and subsequently a Master of Arts. After graduation, he served as Secretary of the Anglo-Polish Society in Poland, and from 1937 to 1940 taught at Bolton School. When the Second World War broke out, he joined the Royal Air Force as a bomber squadron pilot. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in recognition of his gallantry in action. After the war, he taught at Manchester Grammar School. In 1950, he took up the post of Lecturer in Classics and Warden of Hawthorns Hall at the University of Keele.

In 1964, Mr. Rayne accepted an appointment as Vice President at Chung Chi College and moved to Hong Kong. During his tenure, he assisted the President, Dr. Yung Chi Tung, in the management of day-to-day College affairs and concurrently served as Secretary of the Board of Governors and the College Council. He also chaired the Physical Education Committee, the Student Scholarships and Student-Aid Committee and the Library Committee, through which he devoted particular effort to charting the development of the College, especially the planning and construction of the Elisabeth Luce Moore Library. In 1975, he succeeded Dr. Yung as President of Chung Chi. Mr. Rayne was conscientious and responsible in his work, and warm and approachable in manner, earning the admiration and affection of all staff and students. He formally retired from office in 1976.

During his years in Hong Kong, Mr. Rayne was an enthusiastic advocate for public affairs. He served as the founding Chairman of The Conservancy Association, one of Hong Kong’s earliest environmental organisations, speaking out on issues of environmental pollution and nature conservation. He was subsequently appointed by the Hong Kong Government as a member of the Advisory Committee on Environmental Pollution on Land and Water, advising the authorities on improvements. In addition, he took a keen interest in the welfare of local youth. From 1970 onwards, he was involved in the work of The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups, serving successively as a member of its Executive Committee, Vice-Chairman, and Chairman. Mr. Rayne later left Hong Kong and returned to settle in England, passed away in Oxfordshire in 2000 at the age of eighty-seven.