Yen Chia-kan

Yen Chia-kan (Chinese: 嚴家淦; pinyin: Yán Jiāgàn; Wade–Giles: Yen² Chia¹-kan⁴; 23 October 1905 – 24 December 1993), also known as C. K. Yen, was a Chinese politician, chemist, and economist who served as the second president of the Republic of China from 1975 to 1978. As a member of the Kuomintang (KMT), he served in various important government positions throughout his lifetime, including Minister of Finance, Premier of the Republic of China, and later Vice President of the Republic of China.

On 5 April 1975, Yen Chia-kan succeeded Chiang Kai-shek as the second President of the Republic of China, being sworn in on 6 April 1975, and served out the remainder of Chiang Kai-shek's term. On 20 May 1978, after his term elapsed, he did not seek reelection and was succeeded by Chiang Kai-shek’s son, Chiang Ching-kuo. As the first civilian President of the Republic of China, he implemented many reforms including the shift from using Literary Chinese to the written vernacular in government documents and successfully responded to the 1973 oil crisis.

Unlike his controversial predecessor, Chiang Kai-shek, Yen Chia-kan’s reputation and legacy is positive due to the many successful economic policies that he implemented throughout his life both in mainland China and in Taiwan. Due to his successful implementation of the New Taiwan dollar as the chairman of the Bank of Taiwan in 1949, Yen Chia-kan is widely known as the “father of the New Taiwan Dollar".