National Taiwan University

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National Taiwan University
國立臺灣大學
Motto 敦品勵學、愛國愛人
(Cultivate Your Virtue, Advance Your Intellect; Love Your Country, Love Your People)
Established Founded 1928[1]
Reorganized 1945
Type Public (National)
President Lee Si-Chen (李嗣涔)
Faculty 1,793 (full time),
1,188 (joint and adjunct)
Undergraduates 17,913
Postgraduates 10,859
Location Taipei City, Republic of China(Taiwan)
Campus Urban,
1.6 km² (Greater Taipei combined),
344 km² (Nantou County combined)
Affiliations ASAIHL
Website (English) (Chinese)

National Taiwan University (Traditional Chinese: 國立臺灣大學; Simplified Chinese: 国立台湾大学; Hanyu Pinyin: Guólì Táiwān Dàxué; Tongyong Pinyin: Guólì Táiwan Dàsyué; Wade-Giles: Kuo2-li4 t'ai2-wan1 ta4-hsüeh2; POJ: Kok-li̍p Tâi-ôan Tāi-ha̍k; abbreviation NTU)[2] is a national university in Taipei, Republic of China. Before the end of World War II, it was known as Taihoku Imperial University (臺北帝國大學), one of the nine Imperial Universities in the Empire of Japan.

The entrance examination score needed to enter NTU is typically the highest among universities in Republic of China, and using this ranking, it is widely considered the best and most prestigious university in Taiwan. NTU admits students based solely on merits, disregarding other factors such as race or gender. The female-to-male ratio in the undergraduate population is 0.87 : 1.

NTU has very strong ties with Academia Sinica.

NTU students play prominent roles in political and social acitivities. Both the left and right movements in Taiwan are rooted in the NTU campus.

Contents

[edit] History

The predecessor of National Taiwan University was Taihoku Imperial University, founded by the Japanese Government in 1928. The first president was Hiroshi Shidehara. When Taihoku Imperial University was first established, it had two colleges: the College of Liberal Arts and Law, and the College of Science and Agriculture, and had a total of 60 students. The College of Medicine and the College of Engineering were added in 1936 and 1943, respectively.

After World War II and the return of Chinese control, the Republic of China government renamed it as National Taiwan University on November 15, 1945 and appointed Lo Tsung-lo as the first president. The University has undergone multiple times of reorganization ever since. As of the 2004 academic year, the University has a total of 11 colleges, 54 departments, and 96 graduate institutes (which offer 96 Master's programs and 83 doctoral programs). The number of students reached 29,877 in 2004, including those enrolling in the Division of Continuing Education & Professional Development. A new library was built in 1998, and now contains over 3,000,000 volumes of books.

Detailed Outline of University History

[edit] Education

West Site of National Taiwan University Hospital
West Site of National Taiwan University Hospital

The educational system in NTU is similar to that of many universities in Asia, Europe, and South America. A student must declare a major before admission. Some majors are more competitive than others and require a higher national examination score. Traditionally, medicine, electrical engineering, and law are the three most selective majors. To get into the medical school of NTU, an applicant needs to score among the top 100 students in the national exam (out of more than 500,000 test takers every year). The medical degree takes 7 years to finish, while most of the other majors take 4 years.

NTU requires most of its undergraduate students to take a mandatory core curriculum, comprising Chinese literature, English, constitution, calculus, and (western or Chinese) history. The medical school in addition dictates each of its students to take philosophy and sociology classes as well as seminars in ethics and thanatology. Military training is no longer obligatory for males, but it is a prerequisite if the student plans to be an officer during his postgraduate military service.

[edit] Campus

A scene in the main campus of National Taiwan University
A scene in the main campus of National Taiwan University

The University has six campuses in the greater Taipei region (including Taipei County) and two additional campuses in Nantou County, amounting to ~1% of the total area of the Taiwan Island. The University governs farms, forests, and hospitals for educational and research purposes. The main campus (校總區) is in Taipei's Da-an district, where most department buildings and all the administrative buildings are located. Notable exceptions are the College of Law and the College of Medicine, which are located near the Presidential Building (Taiwan).

Interactive map of the main campus

[edit] Organization

A president (校長) heads the University. Each college (院) is headed by a dean (院長), and each department (系) by a chairman (系主任). Students elect their own representatives each year to attend administrative meetings.

The University has eleven colleges:

The International Chinese Language Program (ICLP), originally founded by Stanford University, is located at National Taiwan University.

[edit] The Presidents

Presidents of Taihoku Imperial University:

  • Hiroshi Shidehara (幣原坦): March 1928-September 1937
  • Sadanori Mita (三田定則): September 1937-April 1941
  • Masatsugu Ando (安藤正次): April 1941-March 1945
  • Kazuo Ando (安藤一雄): March 1945-August 1945

Presidents of National Taiwan University:

  • Lo Tsung-lo (羅宗洛): August 1945-July 1946
  • Lu Chih-hung (陸志鴻): August 1946-May 1948
  • Chuang Chang-kung (莊長恭): June 1948-December 1948
  • Fu Szu-nien (傅斯年): January 1949-December 1950
  • Shen Kang-po (沈剛伯): December 1950-January 1951
  • Chien Szu-liang (錢思亮): January 1951-May 1970
  • Yen Cheng-hsing (閻振興): June 1970-July 1981
  • Yu Chao-chung (虞兆中): August 1981-July 1984
  • Sun Chen (孫震): August 1984-February 1993
  • Kou Guang-hsiung (郭光雄): March 1993-July 1993
  • Chen Wei-Jao (陳維昭): August 1993-June 2005
  • Lee Si-Chen (李嗣涔): August 2005-


[edit] Alumni

NTU alumni are influential in the politics of Taiwan as well as in academics. Many NTU scholars enjoy a portion of their career outside of Taiwan, most frequently in U.S.A.

[edit] Academics

[edit] University chancellors

  • Tien Chang-lin (田長霖): the 8th Chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley
  • Henry T. Yang (楊祖佑): the 5th Chancellor of the University of California, Santa Barbara

[edit] Humanities and social sciences

[edit] Physical sciences, mathematics, and engineering

[edit] Life sciences

  • Chuan-Chiung Chang (張傳炯): co-discoverer of bungarotoxin; Professor Emeritus of Pharmacology, NTU
  • Ding-Shinn Chen, M.D. (陳定信): authority on hepatitis B and hepatocellular carcinoma; Dean, NTU College of Medicine; Foreign Member, National Academy of Sciences, USA
  • Lan-Bo Chen (陳良博): Professor of Pathology, Harvard Medical School
  • Pei-Jer Chen, M.D. (陳培哲): authority on hepatitis D virus; Howard Hughes Medical Institute International Research Scholar; Professor of Medicine, NTU
  • Wei-Jao Chen, M.D. (陳維昭): President, NTU, 1993-2005; pioneer in surgical separation of ischiopagus tripus conjoined twins
  • Yuan-Tsong Chen, M.D. (陳垣崇): inventor of Myozyme, the first EMEA- and FDA-approved treatment for Pompe disease (approved in 2006); Director, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica; former Chief and Professor, the Pediatrics Division of Medical Genetics, Duke University Medical Center
  • Yao-Tseng Chen, M.D.: Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College
  • Yu-Ray Chen, M.D. (陳昱瑞): President, International Society of Craniofacial Surgery, 1999-2000
  • Shu Chien, M.D. (錢煦): University Professor, University of California; President, the American Physiological Society, 1990-1; President Elect, the Biomedical Engineering Society, USA, 2005-6
  • Tuan-Hua David Ho (賀端華): ISI (Institute for Scientific Information) highly cited researcher in plant and animal science; UNESCO Professorship, 2004; Director and Distinguished Research Fellow, Institute of Botany, Academia Sinica, 2003-
  • Ru-Chih Chow Huang (黃周汝吉): American Women in Science, 1985; Professor of Biology, Johns Hopkins University
  • Tao-shih Hsieh (謝道時): Professor of Biochemistry, Duke University Medical Center
  • Su-Ming Hsu, M.D. (許世明): ISI highly cited researcher in clinical medicine (cited more than 10,000 times between 1981 and 1992); Professor of Pathology, NTU
  • Lily Y. Jan (葉公杼): Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, Professor of Physiology and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco
  • Yuh Nung Jan (詹裕農): Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, Professor of Molecular Physiology, University of California, San Francisco
  • Selina Chen-Kiang: Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College
  • Michael M. C. Lai, M.D. (賴明詔): Vice President, Academia Sinica; Distinguished Professor of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, University of Southern California; Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, 1990-2003
  • Chen-Yuan Lee, M.D. (李鎮源): co-discoverer of bungarotoxin; Redi Award, 1976; Former President, International Society on Toxinology
  • Tun-Hou Lee (李敦厚): Professor of Virology, Harvard School of Public Health
  • Ching-Hon Pui, M.D.: Chair, Department of Oncology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital; ISI highly cited researcher in clinical medicine
  • Vivian E. Shih, M.D.: Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School
  • Ming T. Tsuang, M.D. (莊明哲): University Professor, University of California; Director, Institute of Behavioral Genomics, University of California, San Diego; Director, Harvard Institute of Psychiatric Epidemiology and Genetics
  • Ching-Chung Wang (王正中): Professor of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco
  • James C. Wang (王倬): discoverer of topoisomerase; Chair (1983-1985) and Professor (1977-2005), Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University
  • Tzyy Choou Wu, M.D.: Professor of Pathology, Professor of Oncology, and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions; Professor of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins University
  • Jang Yen Wu (吳政彥): ISI highly cited researcher in neuroscience; Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences; Senior Schmidt Fellow, Department of Biomedical Science, Florida Atlantic University
  • Fun-Sun Frank Yao, M.D.: Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology, Weill Cornell Medical College

[edit] Politics

[edit] Entertainment

  • Alec Su (蘇有朋): majored in mechanical engineering
  • Wakin Chau (周華健): majored in mathematics
  • Ng Tian Hann (黃天漢): majored in literature; now a film director in Malaysia

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ as Taihoku Imperial University
  2. ^ The name of the university is translated using Chinese word order. By English grammar rules, it is Taiwan National University.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Association of East Asian Research Universities

Peking • Fudan • Tsinghua • USTC • HKUST • Nanjing • Seoul National • KAIST • POSTECH • NTHU • Taiwan • Tokyo • Tsukuba • Osaka • Tokyo Tech • Kyoto • Tohoku

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