Tainan, Taiwan, April 27th, 2010

Senior Executive Vice-President Da-Hsuan Feng of National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, is nominated by Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP), Malaysia, as Member of Academic Advisory Council and Shantou University, China, as Trustee of School Board.

Tun Dr. Mahathir Bin Mohamad, the current Chancellor of Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, was the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 2003. Mr. Ka-Shing Li, the Honorary Chairman of the Council at Shantou University, is the wealthiest man in Hong Kong. Both universities are supported by distinguished figures.

NCKU Senior Executive Vice-President Da-Hsuan Feng accepted the offer from NCKU President Michael Ming-Chiao Lai and took the position of Vice-President in October, 2007. His bold spirit, innovative thinking and international perspective have created many outstanding achievements in National Cheng Kung University and infused new life into national higher education.

The achievements of Dr. Da-Hsuan Feng include recruiting Nobel Prize winners and renowned scientists to give lectures and do research in NCKU and signing Memorandums of Understanding with Texas High Speed Rail, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Aurora, USA, and other international institutions.

Dr. Da-Hsuan Feng has an active and outspoken American style. He strongly advocates the autonomy of universities, expecting to break the bottleneck of Taiwan’s higher education. He has invited many world famous presidents to convene a national council meeting in 2009 and visited Soul National University, Korea, to inspect their incorporation and University of California to observe their system advantages. He has also been invited many times by the Ministry of Education, Taiwan, to report on his innovative thinking and ideas of higher education.

Dr. Da-Hsuan Feng has offered many insightful ideas on higher education to National Kinmen Institute of Technology (KMIT) President Chin-Cheng Lee during the assessment period of the Ministry of Education. These ideas helped KMIT upgrade to National Quemoy (Kinmen) University on August 1st, 2010.

Dr. Feng was the first to expound and propagate Southern Fujian Culture research, integrating Tainan, Kinmen, Xiamen as well as Southeast Asia, and promote Southern Fujian Culture research to become the modern trend. National Cultural Association and National Cheng Kung University are currently organizing a world Southern Fujian cultural event.

Dr. Feng has devoted himself to nuclear physics, quantum optics and quantum chaos science research for many years. He was the first to apply Monte Carlo method to analyze nuclear reaction, to use coherent state to study nuclear phase-change, to raise fermion dynamic symmetry model in nuclear structure physics and to adopt coherent state of quantum chaos with Prof. Wei-Min Chang of Department of Physics at NCKU. He was also the forerunner of optical bistability.

In addition to his excellent academic research achievements, NCKU Senior Executive Vice-President Da-Hsuan Feng also has outstanding performance in the industry. He has been the Trustee of Cellstar Company, General Manager of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), Business and Technological Advisory Member of seven small and medium-sized enterprises. The international research level set up by Dr. Da-Hsuan Feng occupies a significant position in the worldwide academia, industry and political circles.

Born in 1945 in New Delhi, India, Dr. Da-Hsuan Feng moved to Singapore as a young boy. He obtained his Bachelor and Doctoral degrees from Drew University and the University of Minnesota. Dr. Feng has been the M. Russell Wehr Professor of Physics, Program Director of Theoretical Physics at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Visiting Professor of the Niels Bohr Institute and consultant to the theoretical physics groups of Los Alamos National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory and United Kingdom’s Daresbury Laboratory. He was also the Honorary Professor of eleven universities in China.


Additional Information:

Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) was established in 1997 by PETRONAS, the national oil company of Malaysia, upon invitation by the Ministry of Higher Education of Malaysia. Tun Dr. Mahathir Bin Mohamad, the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, is the current Chancellor. UTP has 8 departments, including Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Petroleum Engineering, Information and Communications Technology, Business Information Systems and Petroleum Geoscience.

PETRONAS is ranked the 80th largest company in the world in 2009 by the FORTUNE Global 500. It also ranked PETRONAS as the 8th most profitable company in the world and the most profitable in Asia. In aspiring to be a leading oil and gas multinational of choice, PETRONAS has since ventured globally into more than 30 countries.

The Group is engaged in a wide spectrum of petroleum activities, including upstream exploration and production of oil and gas to downstream oil refining; marketing and distribution of petroleum products; trading; gas processing and liquefaction; gas transmission pipeline network operations; marketing of liquefied natural gas; petrochemical manufacturing and marketing; shipping; automotive engineering; and property investment.

The Academic Advisory Council (AAC) of Universiti Teknologi Petronas is established in 2001. It is a forum for networking and exchange of ideas between the university and various sectors of society as well as to provide guidance and strategic directions on the development of the university and various sectors of society. The Council is formed by Chairman Tun Dr. Mahathir Bin Mohamad, International Members like Prof. Sung-Kee Chung, former President of Pohang University of Science and Technology, Dr. Øystein Berg, Managing Director of International Programme for Petroleum Management and Administration (PETRAD), Dr. Abdullah Sadiq, Dean of Faculty of Basic and Applied Sciences, Air University, E-9, Islamabad, and Dr. Ing. Klaus Riedle, former President of Fossil Power Generation, Siemens AG, and Local Members like Dr. Ahmad Tajuddin bin Ali of Chairman’s Office, UEM Group Berhad, Dr. Augustine S.H. Ong, President of Malaysian Invention & Design Society (MINDS), Puan Juniwati Rahmat Hussin, Vice President of Education, PETRONAS, and Dr. Zainal Abidin Hj Kasim, Rector of Universiti Teknologi Petronas.

Shantou University (STU) is a comprehensive university in Shantou City, Guangdong Province, P.R. China. It was authorized and established in 1981 by the State Council and Guangdong Government under the “Project 211” program. Mr. Ka-Shing Li, the wealthiest businessman in Hong Kong, has contributed HK$3.1 billion to the founding of the university. Mr. Li also plans to donate HK$2 billion in the next 8 years to support the development of the university and Medical College.

STU has 11 departments and faculties, including Department of Physical Education, Department of Social Sciences, College of Science, College of Liberal Arts, College of Engineering, Medical College, Law School, Business School, Cheung Kong School of Art and Design, Cheung Kong School of Journalism and Communication and School of Continuing Education. It has approximately 3,500 faculties and staffs and 8,615 full-time students.

The Shantou University Council was established on February 10th, 1987, with Mr. Ka-Shing Li acting as the Honorary Chairman. Its mission is to consult experienced academics and administrators to better enact educational principles and develop STU into a top-tier institution.