Four outstanding female academics were recently elected as academicians of Academia Sinica, the first time the nation’s top research institution has inducted so many female academics in a single year.
Among them are Ki Che Angela Leung (梁其姿), a research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of History and Philology, and Yu Wang (王瑜), a distinguished professor at National Taiwan University’s Department of Chemistry.
The two other newly inducted female members of the Convocation of Academicians are Teresa Meng (孟懷縈), an electrical engineering and computer science professor at Stanford University, and Inez Fung (馮又嫦), a professor at University of California, Berkeley’s Department of Earth and Planetary Science.
A total of 18 prestigious academics of Chinese descent were elected Academia Sinica academicians this year from a pool of 49 candidates.
Half of the new academicians are based in Taiwan, while the remaining half are mostly residing and working in the US.
Nine of the new academicians are specialized in mathematics and physical sciences, five in life sciences and four are in humanities and social sciences.
Academia Sinica President Wong Chi-huey (翁啟惠) said on Thursday he is pleased to see a record number of female academics joining the ranks of academicians — an honorary position — this year.
“It is also encouraging that half of the new inductees into the Convocation of Academicians are based in Taiwan, as this indicates that local academic standards are progressing,” he said.
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