Text: Ching-Tzu Meng
Photos: NCKU News Center

NCKU President Meng-Ru Shen (center) poses with the two Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award honorees, Pochang Hsu (left) and Sue Lin (right)
　

Since its founding 95 years ago, National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) has nurtured more than 220,000 alumni who are making a difference across fields around the world. To honor its alumni for their outstanding achievements and contributions to the nation and society, NCKU held the 2026 Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award ceremony on the evening of November 7 on Yun-Ping Boulevard at Kuang-Fu Campus. Before a warm gathering of about 1,000 alumni, President Meng-Ru Shen presented the honor to two of its graduates: Pochang Hsu, Class of 1984 in the Department of Engineering Science, and Sue Lin, Class of 1992 in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature.
 

The Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award ceremony and Alumni Night are the two major events of NCKU’s anniversary celebrations. For the university’s 95th anniversary in 2026, the festivities were moved outdoors and expanded, and the award ceremony was folded into Alumni Night for the first time. Thousands of alumni from Taiwan and abroad came together to celebrate their alma mater’s 95th birthday. The entire NCKU community took pride in Pochang Hsu and Sue Lin, who, guided by the university’s spirit of “seeking truth through reason,” have not only achieved remarkable success in their own fields but also brought distinction to their alma mater.
 

Pochang Hsu and Sue Lin thanked their alma mater for nurturing them and said they were deeply honored to receive the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award. Relatives and friends also came to witness the ceremony, among them Hsu’s wife, Hui-Ching Chen, and Lin’s mother, Wen-Li Lin-Chen, and husband, Chi-Hsin Chen. With their families by their side, the moment of honor felt even warmer and more precious.
 

President Meng-Ru Shen (left) presents the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award to Pochang Hsu

In his speech, Pochang Hsu offered the four-character saying "為者常成" (“Those who act often succeed”), which he said captures how NCKU alumni show their strength through steady, hands-on action. Hsu then told of three people he was fortunate to meet after going to the United States to study: a teacher who inspired him, a senior alumnus who brought him into service with the NCKU Alumni Association of Northern California, and a senior alumna who had long been devoted to university affairs and with whom he launched a scholarship program. He thanked them for guiding and supporting him at different stages, saying they showed him the spirit and example of NCKU alumni giving back to their alma mater.
 

Hsu said he has met many people in his life who lifted him up, and that he hopes to do the same for others. He closed by urging everyone to be there for one another: “Today you are there for me; tomorrow I will be there for you.”
 

President Meng-Ru Shen (left) presents the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award to Sue Lin

In her speech, Sue Lin said with feeling that receiving the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award filled her with gratitude and a keen sense of responsibility to pass on what she has been given. Her studies in NCKU’s Department of Foreign Languages and Literature built her empathy and communication skills, which later became a key strength as she moved into high tech and cybersecurity. Looking back on her life, she named three breakthroughs: crossing over into a new professional field, breaking through the glass ceiling at work, and redefining success after a health crisis. She now understands that success lies not only in career achievement but also in keeping health, family, and daily life in balance, finding the equilibrium that matters most.
 

Lin stressed two guiding beliefs in her life: to keep improving herself, and to pass on the experience and abilities she has gathered. After all, one person can travel fast, but a group can travel far. Looking ahead, she hopes to keep devoting herself to nurturing young talent and developing women’s leadership, and to be a hand that helps others rise.
 

Pochang Hsu, Founder & Chairman, PETA Optronics, Inc. （Class of 1984, Department of Engineering Science）

Pochang Hsu has more than 30 years of experience in the semiconductor industry, combining technology R&D, corporate management, and entrepreneurship. He has worked at leading global semiconductor companies, including TSMC’s U.S. operations, Intel, and Broadcom, where he achieved outstanding results in core technologies such as microprocessors and system architecture. He holds 13 U.S. patents and has published more than 40 international academic papers. He also brings extensive experience in running Silicon Valley startups and managing multinational teams. Now the founder and chairman of PETA Optronics, Inc., Hsu leads his team to bring together engineering expertise and business strategy across international and interdisciplinary settings, guiding startups from product prototyping to market launch and fundraising.
 

Pochang Hsu has long cared about and supported his alma mater’s development. He currently serves as a mentor for NCKU’s Phoenix Startup Platform and as President of the NCKU Alumni Foundation of North America. He helped bring North American alumni associations and NCKU together to launch the Morning Star Scholarship Program, which gives outstanding students at least US$20,000（about NT$600,000） each to conduct research, study, or intern abroad, broadening their international outlook and strengthening their competitiveness. Through the scholarship, alumni in the United States pass their experience on to younger students, hand in hand.

Sue Lin, Vice President of Product Operations at Cisco Systems（Class of 1992, Department of Foreign Languages and Literature）

Sue Lin did not begin her career in engineering or information technology. Yet as the internet took off, she resolutely moved into the high-tech industry. In just five months she completed her technical transition, starting in an entry-level systems engineering role. Over 25 years she has worked at six global technology companies, risen through 10 job levels, and earned 21 international professional certifications, including demanding credentials such as CISSP, PMP, and CSM, with experience spanning engineering practice, project governance, product operations, and merger and acquisition integration. Her path is more than a career change; it is cross-disciplinary integration in practice. The cross-cultural understanding, logical reasoning, and resilience in the face of the unknown that she built in NCKU’s Department of Foreign Languages and Literature became the foundation of her standing in the global technology world.
 

Having built a successful career, Cisco Vice President Sue Lin gives back to her alma mater through action, taking an active part in alumni organizations. As President of the NCKU Alumni Association of Northern California and Vice Chair of the NCKU Alumni Foundation of North America, she has worked to build a “global NCKU alumni network” and to link the university with leading technology resources in Silicon Valley. She also shares her senior management experience from Silicon Valley, helping current students connect with international approaches to cybersecurity governance and product operations.