The Ministry of Education used the Taiwan Branch of the Central Library to hold the 13th National Chair Professorship Award and the 53rd Academic Award presentation ceremony on January the 16th . In order to highlight the prestige of these two awards, the Ministry of Education specifically invited Vice President Vincent Siew and Premier Den-Yih Wu as the presenters for the awards. When delivering his speech, the Vice President extended his personal congratulations to the winners, and expressed affirmation toward Ministry of Education's efforts in promoting higher education. "It was certainly very exhilarating to hear that NTU was ranked the 95th place in the world in UK London Times Higher Education Supplements rankings." he said. He also urged the winners to exert their academic influence, to lead the tidings of academic research, and establish themselves as the best learning model for young students.

In his speech, Premier Den-Yih Wu praised the winners for their efforts in pursuing excellence in academics. He said that the winners made great contributions to our society and were therefore recognized by the academic circles both at home and from abroad. He also expected that the winners could express their opinions of the government's policies, as progress is often brought about by criticism from the pillars of our society. Finally, he pointed out that all the winners had to pass the preliminary screening of the Council of Academic Reviewal and Evaluation, then pass the finals, then submit their writings to be perused by foreign experts, and finally came to the fore from among a number of competitors, winning these awards was a true accomplishment. He urged all the winners to lead the young generation into the ranks of academic study, and instill new and solid strength into higher education.

There are eight winners for the 13th National Chair Professorship Award. They are: for arts and humanities, Professor Yong-Yih Tseng of Shih-Hsin University; for social sciences, Professor Chao-Cheng Mai of Tamkang University; for math and natural sciences, Professor Chin-Lung Wang of NTU and Professor Chien-Hong Cheng of National Tsing-Hua University; for biology, medicine and agriculture, Professor Mei-Hwei Chang of NTU and Professor C. C. Young of National Chung-Hsin University; for engineering and applied sciences, Professor Liang Gee Chen of NTU and Professor F. C. Chang of National Jiao-tung University. Of these eight winners, Professor Chao-Cheng Mai, Professor Chien Hong Cheng, Professor C. C. Young, and Professor F. C. Chang won the National Chair Professorship Award for the second time, hence they were considered to be lifelong winners of the National Chair Professorship Award.

The 53rd Academic Award had 13 winners. They are: for arts and humanities, Ch ristian Helmut Wenzel of National Taiwan University and Angela Ki Che Leung, a research fellow at Academia Sinica; for social scie4nces, Kong Pin Chen, a research fellow at Academia Sinica, and Shin-Kun Peng, also a research fellow at Academia Sinica; for math and natural sciences, Professor Jim Min Fang of National Taiwan University, Nr. Di-Jing Huang of the National Synchrotron Radiation Center, and Professor Meng Kiat Chuah of National Tsing-Hua University; for biology, agriculture and medicine, research fellows at Academia Sinica Dr. Carmay Lin and Dr. Sue Lin Chao, and Professsor Shie-Liang Hsieh of National Yang-Ming University; for engineering and applied sciences, Professor Chen-Chi Ma of National Tsing-hua University, Dr. Ming Syan Chen of Academia Sinica and Dr. Tsong P. Perng of Yuan Ze University.

In order to encourage academic research, to enhance the standards of teaching and research, and to promote the universities to develop their special features, the Ministry of Education specifically set up the National Chair Professorship Award and the Academic award, under which were subsumed five categories, i.e., arts and humanities, social sciences, math and natural sciences, biology, agriculture and medicine, and engineering and applied sciences. Of the five categories, humanities and social sciences can have up to two winners, whereas the other categories can have up to three winners. The term for the National Professorship Award is for three years, during which time the winner gets N.T. 1 million each year (half a million as personal bonus and half a million as research fund) , plus that the resident university has to provide him with the necessary resources. Winners of the Academic Award get a certificate and N.T. 600,000 in cash. During the presentation ceremony, film clips were shown to introduce the winners and their research, Dr. F. C. Chang and Dr. Tsong P. Perng represented the winners to give speeches. The winners were surrounded by their families and students, and it was a joyous occasion for all.