Maw-Kuen Wu (; born December 6, 1949) is a

Taiwanese Taiwanese may refer to: * Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien * Something from or related to Taiwan ( Formosa) * Taiwanese aborigines, the indigenous people of Taiwan * Han Taiwanese, the Han people of Taiwan * Taiwanese people, ...

physicist specializing in superconductivity,

low-temperature physics In physics, cryogenics is the production and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures. The 13th IIR International Congress of Refrigeration (held in Washington DC in 1971) endorsed a universal definition of “cryogenics” and “cr ...

, and high-pressure physics. He was a professor of physics at University of Alabama (Huntsville),

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, and

National Tsing Hua University National Tsing Hua University (NTHU; ) is a public research university in Hsinchu City, Taiwan. National Tsing Hua University was first founded in Beijing. After the Chinese Civil War, the then-president of the university, Mei Yiqi, and othe ...

, the Director of the Institute of Physics at Academia Sinica, the president of the

National Dong Hwa University National Dong Hwa University (NDHU; ; shortened as "") is a national research university located in Hualien, Taiwan. Established in 1994, NDHU is widely considered as the most potential research university and the most prestigious university ...

, and is currently a distinguished research fellow of the Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica.

Life and career

Born in Yuli Township,

Hualien County Hualien County ( Mandarin Wade–Giles: Hua¹-lien² Hsien⁴; Pīnyīn: ''Huālián Xiàn''; Hokkien POJ: ''Hoa-lian-koān'' or ''Hoa-liân-koān''; Hakka PFS: ''Fâ-lièn-yen''; Amis: ''Kalingko'') is a county on the east coast of Taiwan. I ...

, Wu is an ethnic

Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages ...

on his paternal side and spent his childhood in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. He completed his Ph.D. degree at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the university in Texas with over 47,000 students. Its campus, which is primarily in s ...

in 1981. Wu worked as a research scientist at his alma mater for two years, before being taken on as an

assistant professor Assistant Professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States and Canada. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doctoral degree A docto ...

of physics at the

University of Alabama in Huntsville The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) is a public research university in Huntsville, Alabama. The university is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and comprises nine colleges: arts, humanities & social scienc ...

, and then subsequently promoted to

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

in 1987. Along with

Chu Ching-wu Paul Ching Wu Chu (; born February 12, 1941) is a Chinese-American physicist specializing in superconductivity, magnetism, and dielectrics. He is a Professor of physics and T.L.L. Temple Chair of Science in the Physics Department at the Unive ...

and Jim Ashburn, Wu made the historic discovery of superconductivity above 77 K in

YBCO Yttrium barium copper oxide (YBCO) is a family of crystalline chemical compounds that display high-temperature superconductivity; it includes the first material ever discovered to become superconducting above the boiling point of liquid nitrogen ...

in 1987. According to the

Science Citation Index The Science Citation Index Expanded – previously entitled Science Citation Index – is a citation index originally produced by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) and created by Eugene Garfield. It was officially launched in 1964 and ...

by Web of Science, Wu's 1987 work
Superconductivity at 93 K in a new mixed-phase Y-Ba-Cu-O compound system at ambient pressure
in ''

Physical Review Letters ''Physical Review Letters'' (''PRL''), established in 1958, is a peer-reviewed, scientific journal that is published 52 times per year by the American Physical Society. As also confirmed by various measurement standards, which include the ''Journa ...

'' ( American Physical Society) has been cited for more than five thousand times by journal articles and considered influential in applied science and business. Wu was then invited to teach at the

, and conduct further research in

high-temperature superconductivity High-temperature superconductors (abbreviated high-c or HTS) are defined as materials that behave as superconductors at temperatures above , the boiling point of liquid nitrogen. The adjective "high temperature" is only in respect to previou ...

. Maw-Kuen Wu served as Chairman of the R.O.C. National Science Council from 2004 to 2006. In 2018, he was named Minister of Education and resigned after 41 days. Wu was subsequently impeached by the

Control Yuan The Control Yuan is the supervisory and auditory branch of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Prior to constitutional reforms in the 1990s, the Control Yuan, along with National Assembly (electoral college) and the Legislati ...

, which charged him with violating the Public Functionary Service Act and the Act on the Recusal of Public Servants Due to Conflict of Interest.

Personal life

Maw-Kuen Wu and his wife have two children.

Academic Honors

* 1988 USA Chinese Association of Engineering Annual Award * 1988

State of Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

Resolution * 1988

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publi ...

Research Award * 1988 U.S.A. National Academy of Sciences Comstock Prize * 1989 Tamkang Golden Eagle Award * 1994 Fellow,

Chinese Physical Society The Chinese Physical Society (CPS) a professional society of physicists established in 1932. It is part of the China Association for Science and Technology. Current membership is at around 40,000. CPS has been a member of the International Union ...

* 1994 Bernd T. Matthias Prize * 1995 Y. T. Lee Outstanding Scientist Award * 1998

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

Special Awards * 2007 Ettore Majorana-Erice-Science for Peace Prize * 2009 Taiwanese-American Foundation (TAF) Award * 2010-03 Germany

Humboldt Research Award The Humboldt Prize, the Humboldt-Forschungspreis in German, also known as the Humboldt Research Award, is an award given by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany to internationally renowned scientists and scholars who work outside of G ...

References

External links

Professor Wu's profile at Academia Sinica
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wu, Maw-Kuen 1949 births Living people Politicians of the Republic of China on Taiwan from Hualien County Taiwanese people of Hoklo descent Tamkang University alumni University of Houston alumni 20th-century Taiwanese physicists National Cheng Kung University alumni University of Houston faculty University of Alabama in Huntsville faculty Columbia University faculty Academic staff of the National Tsing Hua University Academic staff of the National Dong Hwa University Members of Academia Sinica Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Presidents of universities and colleges in Taiwan Hokkien scientists Ministers of Science and Technology of the Republic of China Taiwanese Ministers of Education Humboldt Research Award recipients 21st-century Taiwanese physicists