Dr Joseph S.P. Ting was born in Guangzhou and graduated from The University of Hong Kong with a BA in 1974, followed by an MPhil in 1979 and a PhD in 1989. As Chief Curator of the Hong Kong Museum of History from 1995 to 2007, Dr Ting played a vital part in the planning and implementation of the new Hong Kong Museum of History premises, Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence and Dr Sun Yat-sen Museum.

Dr Ting is currently a member of the Culture Promotion Committee, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University; adjunct professor and honorary senior research fellow of the Centre for Comparative and Public History, Department of History, The Chinese University of Hong Kong; honorary professor of the School of Chinese, The University of Hong Kong; member of the Departmental Advisory Committee, Department of Chinese and History, City University of Hong Kong; member of the Advisory Board on History, Lingnan University; museum expert adviser and member of the Museums Advisory Committee, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, HKSAR Government; member of the Board of Trustees, The Lord Wilson Heritage Trust; honorary fellow of The University of Hong Kong, The Hong Kong University of Education and the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong; deputy director of the Hong Kong Local Records Office; and member of the Board of Hong Kong Palace Museum Limited. In addition, he is an honorary adviser to or committee member of a number of local museums and museums in mainland China.

Dr Ting has a wide range of research interests: history of Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Macao; history of overseas Chinese communities; Dr Sun Yat-sen and Hong Kong; China trade paintings, etc. Since his retirement in 2007, Dr Ting has published more than ten books, two of which won the Hong Kong Book Prize.