In 1947, he received his doctorate in mathematics from Columbia University, where his thesis advisor was Edgar Lorch.
Hing Tong made many significant contributions to the area of algebraic topology, and served in a number of academic capacities.
In 1947, after receiving a National Research Council fellowship,[2] he became an assistant professor at Barnard College (Columbia University).
Tong retired from academia in 1984 to concentrate on research in theoretical physics.
A commemorative brick in the Paul Halmos Commemorative Walk at the Carriage House Conference Center of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) in Washington, DC, reads: "Hing Tong, Topology and Physics".