NTU celebrates its 95^th anniversary

National Taiwan University (NTU) held its 95^th Anniversary Celebration on November 15. Hosted by President Wen-Chang Chen, the ceremony was observed by over 1,000 participants, inviting former presidents, worldwide alumni, and honorable guests from all walks of society. An honorary doctorate was conferred upon Mr. Yung-Tsai Cho, President of HIWIN Technologies Corp., to honor his exceptional achievements; meanwhile, 10 winners of the Distinguished Alumni Award and the student winners of the Social Devotion Special Award were honored on this special occasion.

In his address, President Chen laid out his plan for the centennial celebration in 2028 and corresponding projects. He urged every NTU member to be proud of the university’s glorious history and look ahead to embark on another splendid century. President Chen referred to Nobel Laureate Hiroshi Amano’s words at the Royal Palm Lecture Series that the purpose of studying is to benefit those around you. That spirit is exactly what NTU stands for: gathering and cultivating talents who have creativity, leadership, altruism, and the ability to bring about changes. These individuals, once graduated, will play central roles in society and exert all efforts to better humanity as well as the entire world. President Chen also reiterated LITEON Group Founder Raymond Soong’s remark during his donation ceremony that Taiwan is a land of happiness mainly because of its people, and education is the key factor in making that possible. He then concluded that NTU would uphold its commitment to teaching, education, research, and the pursuit of excellence. The university seeks not only to advance its academic ranking globally but also to exceed its former self as a spiritual beacon in the century to come.

The recipient of this year’s Honorary Doctorate, President Yung-Tsai Cho, dedicated 30 years of his career to advancing the precision machinery industry in Taiwan. His company, HIWIN Technologies Corp., is a world-leading brand in transmission control. He diligently cultivated talents and embarked on academia-industry cooperation, contributing greatly to upgrading the industry in Taiwan. In his address, President Cho quoted a famous line by Albert Einstein: “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world”. Thereby, he urged faculty and students to see more of the world to cultivate imagination and creativity.

In recognition of NTU alumni for their extraordinary feats and contributions to society, the selection committee has selected 10 NTU graduates to receive the 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award: Bon-chu Chung (鍾邦柱), Yu-Pen Su (蘇玉本), Yu-Chong Tai (戴聿昌), Ying-Ming Yang (楊銀明), Chung-Chiang Hsu (許中強), Tom Cho (卓桐華), Alice Chang (張華禎), Min-Sheng Yang (楊敏盛), Jyuo-Min Shyu (徐爵民), and Huey-Jen Su (蘇慧貞). Their works and altruism are true reflections of NTU’s core values.

The representative of the 2023 Distinguished Alumni, the former Minister of Technology, Prof. Jyuo-Min Shyu, encouraged all attendees to read more, work out regularly, and think independently. Following these three pieces of advice will bring knowledge, health, and good judgment for ensuing NTU students to achieve every success in life.

At the ceremony, the Social Devotion Special Award was also presented, and one more awardee was selected this year to encourage more students to practice sustainable development goals and the spirit of social responsibility. Individual winners Ko-Shuan Shao (邵恪玄), Yu-Chi Wang (王羽綺), and Pei-Zhen Shi (施沛蓁) as well as the group winner, TIWACT, as represented by its co-founder Rena Kashikawa (橫川蓮奈). Rena Kashikawa, who studies at NTU Department of Sociology, spoke on behalf of all awardees to share the TIWACT story. A year ago, she went to Malawi under a project of the College of Public Health. She found that the local dropout rate was as high as 62%, mainly because the government required English to be used in primary schools. Still, students who spoke their mother tongue at home faced difficulties learning English. In the face of economic challenges and other obstacles, students were forced to end their studies prematurely. Later, she contacted university students in Malawi and co-founded an organization to conduct English reading workshops and future career workshops in Malawi to help children strengthen their English skills and inspire their imagination of future lives.