James C. Liao
James C. Liao | |
|---|---|
| 廖俊智 | |
Official portrait, 2025 | |
| 9th President of the Academia Sinica | |
| Assumed office 21 June 2016 | |
| Appointed by | Tsai Ing-wen |
| Vice President | Wang Fan-sen Andrew H. J. Wang Wang Yu Chin-Shing Huang Mei-Yin Chou Fu-Tong Liu Tang K. Tang |
| Preceded by | Wang Fan-sen (acting) |
| Succeeded by | Chen Chien-jen (incoming June 2026) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1958 (age 67–68) |
| Education | National Taiwan University (BS) University of Wisconsin–Madison (PhD) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Chemical engineering Synthetic biology Biochemistry |
| Thesis | Modelling of Biochemical Reaction Networks (1987) |
| Doctoral advisor | Edwin N. Lightfoot |
Liao Chun-Chih (Chinese: 廖俊智; pinyin: Liào Jùnzhì; born 1958), also known by his English name James Liao, is a Taiwanese-American chemical engineer and metabolic engineer who has been the president of Academia Sinica (AS) since 2016.
After earning his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Liao became a professor of chemical engineering at Texas A&M University in 1990. He then became a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he was the Parsons Foundation Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from 2011 to 2016.
Liao is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the National Academy of Inventors. He is best known for his work in metabolic engineering, synthetic biology, and bioenergy. Liao has been recognized for his research in the biosynthesis and production of higher alcohols such as isobutanol from sugars, cellulose, waste protein, or carbon dioxide.