Yen Chen-hsing (; 10 July 1912 – 7 January 2005) was a Chinese-born engineer, educator, and politician based in Taiwan.

Early life and education

Yen graduated from

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 other ...

in Beijing and moved to the United States in 1937 to continue his education. He earned a master's degree and doctorate from the Department of Mechanics and Hydraulics at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

in 1938 and 1941, respectively.

Career

Upon graduation, Yen returned to China and helped construct the

Burma Road The Burma Road () was a road linking Burma (now known as Myanmar) with southwest China. Its terminals were Kunming, Yunnan, and Lashio, Burma. It was built while Burma was a British colony to convey supplies to China during the Second Sino-J ...

. After World War II, Yen devised plans to dam the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Standard Beijing Mandarin, Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system in the world at th ...

. He joined the faculty of

Henan University Henan University () is one of the oldest public and Double First Class Universities in China. It was founded in 1912. In the beginning, its name was the Preparatory School for Further Study in Europe and America. In 1942, its name was changed to ...

shortly before moving to Taiwan in 1949, along with

Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...

's Nationalist government. In Taiwan, Yen became chief engineer of

Kaohsiung Harbor The Port of Kaohsiung (POK; ) is the largest harbor in Taiwan, handling approximately 10.26 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) worth of cargo in 2015. The port is located in southern Taiwan, adjacent to Kaohsiung City, and surrounded by t ...

before assuming the presidency of

National Cheng Kung University National Cheng Kung University (NCKU; ) is a public research university located in Tainan, Taiwan. The university is best known for engineering, computer science, medicine, and planning and design. As a top university in Taiwan, NCKU has played ...

in 1957. He stepped down in 1965 and was named Minister of Education. The next year, Yen began concurrently serving as chairman of the National Youth Commission. As education minister, Yen extended the length of compulsory education programs in Taiwan from six years to nine years and helped establish many junior colleges. Yen left the Ministry of Education in 1969 and ended his tenure at the National Youth Commission the next year. He stepped down from the

Atomic Energy Council The Atomic Energy Council (AEC; ) is an independent government agency of the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China (Taiwan) which is responsible for atomic safety, development and regulations. It also conducts research and development into atom ...

in 1971, having held the position since 1966. Yen assumed administrative posts at several universities while working in the government. While serving as president of

National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST; ) is a Taiwanese state owned corporation, formerly part of the Republic of China Ministry of National Defense's Armaments Bureau, which is active in the development, manufactur ...

from 1969 to 1971, Yen was also president of

until 1970. He then led

National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; ) is a public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. The university was founded in 1928 during Japanese rule as the seventh of the Imperial Universities. It was named Taihoku Imperial University and served d ...

from 1970 to 1981. Upon stepping down from NTU, Yen returned to the Atomic Energy Council from 1981 to 1990 and later served President

Lee Teng-hui Lee Teng-hui (; 15 January 192330 July 2020) was a Taiwanese statesman and economist who served as President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) under the 1947 Constitution and chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) from 1988 to 2000. He was the fir ...

as a senior adviser. Yen was elected to the

Academia Sinica Academia Sinica (AS, la, 1=Academia Sinica, 3=Chinese Academy; ), headquartered in Nangang, Taipei, is the national academy of Taiwan. Founded in Nanking, the academy supports research activities in a wide variety of disciplines, ranging from ...

in 1982 and awarded the University of Iowa's Distinguished Alumni Award for Achievement in 1984. In 1999, the University of Iowa inducted Yen into its Distinguished Engineering Alumni Academy. Yen died in January 2005, aged 92. Following his death, the "Chen-Hsing Fluid Dynamics Lab" and "Chen-Hsing Memorial Hall" at National Taiwan University were dedicated in Yen's honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yen, Chen-hsing 1912 births 2005 deaths Chinese Civil War refugees Chinese mechanical engineers Engineers from Henan National Tsing Hua University alumni University of Iowa alumni Academic staff of Henan University Academic staff of the National Cheng Kung University Academic staff of the National Tsing Hua University Republic of China politicians from Henan Presidents of National Taiwan University Senior Advisors to President Lee Teng-hui Taiwanese mechanical engineers Taiwanese Ministers of Education Taiwanese people from Henan Chinese expatriates in the United States Members of Academia Sinica