NTU held its 82nd anniversary celebration at the NTU Sports Center on November 15. At the ceremony, university officials awarded an honorary doctorate to Prof. Fu Hu and commendations to nine outstanding NTU alumni. With pride, NTU President Si-Chen Lee told the audience that NTU is currently in the period of its most rapid development ever, adding that the university is actively extending its list of international cooperation and exchange agreements and is determined to join the ranks of the world’s top 50 universities.

Prof. Hu had numerous substantial achievements in law and political science in Taiwan, and spared no effort in applying his research results to concrete political action. He made solid contributions to Taiwan’s constitutional reform and democratization processes. In particular, he both advanced academic studies and worked for improvements in local society and culture. His boundless dedication and far-reaching influence are truly inspirational. Prof. Hu’s academic achievements prove his status as “exemplar” of the NTU Motto, “Integrity, Diligence, Patriotism and Philanthropy.” NTU presented Hu with this honorary degree in recognition of his many outstanding accomplishments and contributions.

Recipients of the coveted NTU Outstanding Alumni Awards were chosen in Academics, Business and Overall categories. Winners of the Academic Award included Ralph T. Yang (Department of Chemical Engineering) and Teresa H. Meng (Department of Electrical Engineering). The Business Award went Robert H. C. Tsao (Department of Electrical Engineering), Jane Hsiao (School of Pharmacy), Chih-Yuan Lu (Department of Physics) and Hung-Tu Tsai (College of Law). And, winners of the Overall Award included Yu Cheng (Department of Civil Engineering), Fredrick Y. Chien (Department of Political Science) and Yu-Mei Chao (Yu) (Department of Nursing). The Award winners have been invited to present talks on their significant professional and life experiences in the NTU general education forum series, “Reflections on My Life and Thought.”

One highlight of this year’s anniversary activities was an inaugural series of activities titled, “Student Associations: Finding Our Roots.” In seeking their roots, NTU student associations contacted and worked with NTU alumni in arranging an exhibition of historical artifacts, holding remembrance lectures and issuing a pamphlet called Legacy. Through this activity, the associations established contact with past members, which helped us to preserve university cultural assets by collecting student association artifacts and information, including oral history.

Other fascinating celebration activities included academic forums, art lectures, arts and cultural exhibitions and performances, an overseas education fair, a European cities culture exhibition, anniversary campus tours, alumni nostalgia tours and guided tours for the public.