Tzu Chi University Has Its First Woman President

Tzu Chi University (TCU) in Hualien, Taiwan, has a new president as of August 2019. Dr. Ingrid Y. C. Liu (劉怡均) was presented with the University Seal by Masters De Fan (德) and De Chien (德倩) of the Jing Si Abode before more than 700 attendees in the inauguration ceremony.

Dr. Liu was one of two vice-presidents between 2017 and 2019, and prior to that she was the provost and director of the Center for Faculty Development and Instructional Resources. She is a professor in the Institute of Medical Sciences and an active researcher also overseeing TCU graduate students. Dr. Liu has served at TCU for over 25 years. She is the tenth president of TCU and the first woman to serve as university president.

Dr. Liu received her doctorate in Neuroscience from the University of Southern California (USC) in 2003, where she studied under Richard Thompson, a pioneer in the field of neuroscience. Her M.S. in Microbiology, awarded in 1992, is from Indiana University, Bloomington, and her B.S. in Plant Pathology from National Taiwan University in Taipei, Taiwan, was awarded in 1990. In 1993, Dr. Liu became a faculty member of the Tzu Chi College of Medicine. In 1998, she received a TCU Fellowship, followed by a USC Provost’s scholarship to study neuroscience at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. After completing her Ph.D. program, she returned to TCU and dedicated herself to teaching and research in the Department of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics and the Institute of Medical Sciences. Dr. Liu has received TCU’s Excellent Research Article award five times (2011, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2018) and remains a prolific reviewer for eight journals in her field. She also won the Excellence in Teaching award at TCU in 2009. Dr. Liu’s neuroscience research currently focuses on the ways memories form and fade, and explores the pathology and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease.

She became a member of TCU’s administrative team in 2010. In 2013, she was appointed dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Basic Education, and director of Faculty Development and Instructional Resources. She was promoted in 2014 to become dean of the Office of Academic Affairs and, in 2017, she became a TCU vice president. In 2019, she was nominated as TCU’s president by the Presidential Search Committee and was approved by the Board of Directors.

Over the past 25 years, TCU has become a university that is people-oriented, covers diverse campuses, and is dedicated to nurturing professionals. It advocates the values of the Tzu Chi Foundation, equips its students with professional skills and knowledge, and leads them to altruistically attend to others’ needs. The mission of the university is “Teaching with propriety, educating with virtue, instructing with truth, and guiding with principles.” In 2019, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings rated TCU 67th among over 1,250 universities assessed, and first in Taiwan.

In her inaugural address, President Liu said, “TCU is my first workplace, and it will be my last workplace as well.” She expressed her appreciation to Dharma Master Cheng Yen, members of TCU’s Presidential Search Committee, and the Board of Directors, for trusting her to lead TCU. The president expressed her thanks to her predecessor, President Wang Pen-jung (王本榮), and every other TCU president for their fine efforts. She promised to stand firmly on their solid ground, working with TCU faculty members, staff and students to assist TCU to become an international university, equipping its students with professional skills and knowledge, and inspiring them to attend to others’ needs. One of President Liu’s goals is that all TCU graduates will be professional and altruistic. She foresees that TCU will look after the needs of Tzu Chi volunteers around the world, and will provide a variety of courses to meet their needs and enhance their capabilities. President Liu welcomed Tzu Chi volunteers to come to Hualien to take short-term, undergraduate, or graduate programs.

Dharma Master Cheng Yen founded Tzu Chi University for the sole purpose of education, guided by its motto, “kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity.” The motto encourages faculty, staff and students to enhance their physical well-being and wisdom, preparing students to become kind and compassionate people as well as educated professionals. Master Cheng Yen expects President Liu to lead TCU forward, cultivating future generations of kind and compassionate individuals.

Earlier this year, Dr. Liu led a team of TCU staff and faculty members to the United States, visiting some of TCU’s many international university partners. They visited Andrews University in the state of Michigan, Indiana University at Bloomington, the University of Southern California, the University of California Los Angeles, Loma Linda University and Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. She recently traveled to the U.S. again visiting the Tzu Chi Foundation Regional Offices in New York and Chicago, describing the relief work of the foundation, and promoting Tzu Chi University as a destination for higher education. TCU has formal partnerships with Duke University, New York University, and the University of Southern California. Other partnerships are in Malaysia, Singapore, India, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Sweden.

President Liu has some long-term goals for Tzu Chi University. They are:
1) to develop TCU as an international university that cultivates professionals from different countries, cultural, and religious backgrounds;
2) to ensure that TCU’s curriculum and research are for the purposes of protecting the globe and improving people’s health and well-being at all ages; and
3) to ensure the sustainable development of TCU.

Dr. Liu is 53 years old, married to Eugene Chen, and has a son, Ellson Chen, who works in the technology sector in San Francisco. Her hobbies are reading, playing the piano and cello, and pilates. She also plays table tennis!