Echopedia

Dr. Kun T. Liao (廖坤塗醫師)

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Dr. Kun T. Liao (廖坤塗醫師)

Identity Snapshot

  • English: Dr. Kun T. Liao
  • Chinese: 廖坤塗醫師
  • Era: 1933-2016
  • Geography: Yunlin, Taiwan
  • Core roles: physician, professor, educator
  • Source: TAH Foundation Who’s Who

Accomplishment

  1. President of North American Taiwanese Association (北美洲台灣人醫師協會會長) 1988-1990

Education

  • National Taiwan Univ. — 1958 — M.D.

Employment

  • National Taiwan Univ. Hospital, Taiwan — Physician — (1960-) — Johns Hopkins Univ. School of Medicine-Baltimore City Hospitals — Physician — (1963-) — Wilmington Medical Center, Wilmington, Delaware — Physician — (1964-) — Washington Univ. Medical School, St. Louis, MO — Academic Medicine — (1969-) — Community — North American Taiwanese Association (北美洲台灣人醫師協會) — President 1988-1990 — Taiwanese Medical Society of Greater St. Louis (大聖路易地區台灣醫學會) — First President 1975 — TAA/Greater St. Louis (聖路易台灣同鄉會) — President 1974 — Plains Region Fall Camp (平原區秋令會) — Coordinator 1989 — North America Taiwanese Professors’ Association (NATPA)/St. Louis Chapter (北美洲台灣人教授協會聖路易分會) — President

Career & Community Record

  • Born 1933 in Yunlin, Taiwan; died 2016. M.D., National Taiwan University, 1958.
  • Physician at National Taiwan Univ. Hospital (1960-); Johns Hopkins Univ. School of Medicine / Baltimore City Hospitals (1963-); Wilmington Medical Center, Wilmington, Delaware (1964-); academic medicine at Washington Univ. Medical School, St. Louis, MO (1969-).
  • First President, Taiwanese Medical Society of Greater St. Louis (大聖路易地區台灣醫學會), 1975.
  • President, |Taiwanese Association of America in Greater St. Louis, 1974 (see also |Taiwanese Association of America).
  • President, North American Taiwanese Association (北美洲台灣人醫師協會), 1988-1990; Coordinator, Plains Region Fall Camp (平原區秋令會), 1989; President, North America Taiwanese Professors’ Association (NATPA) St. Louis Chapter.
  • Family: wife Grace Yasin (顏雅幸); daughters Angela and Marjorie; son Jimmy.

Family

  • Wife: Grace Yasin (顏雅幸)
  • Daughter: Angela, Marjorie
  • Son: Jimmy

Timeline (absorbed from profile record)

  • 1933 — born in Yunlin, Taiwan
  • 1958 — M.D., National Taiwan University
  • 1960 — physician, National Taiwan Univ. Hospital
  • 1963 — physician, Johns Hopkins Univ. School of Medicine / Baltimore City Hospitals
  • 1964 — physician, Wilmington Medical Center, Wilmington, Delaware
  • 1969 — academic medicine, Washington Univ. Medical School, St. Louis, MO
  • 1974 — President, Taiwanese Association of America in Greater St. Louis
  • 1975 — First President, Taiwanese Medical Society of Greater St. Louis (大聖路易地區台灣醫學會)
  • 1988–1990 — President, 北美洲台灣人醫師協會 (see NATMA Foundation); 1989 — Coordinator, Plains Region Fall Camp (平原區秋令會)
  • 2016 — died; memorial profile 413. 廖坤塗醫師簡介 (朱真一, 2016/03) archived in-vault as [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/mystories413|TAH #413]]

Role in the Community (corpus-absorbed)

  • NATMA third president, 1988–1990. 12 records the presidency as a two-year term and lists the 1984–1990 line as 周烒明 → 楊次雄 → 廖坤塗 → 陳惠亭, confirming him as NATMA’s third president.
  • Led the second NATMA return-visit delegation to Taiwan, 1988-11-02, for the 81st 台灣醫學會 annual meeting. Delegation: 廖坤塗夫婦、陳惠亭、邱泰茂、林益顯、蔡承昌、王忠烈、呂飛騰、張福斌、葉明和、林盛光、楊次雄、王鵬南夫人. The group visited 外交部、衛生署、立法院、台灣省衛生局、嘉義市政府、民進黨部、國民黨部、中山醫學院、高雄醫學院; through 陳永興’s arrangements they visited political prisoners 蔡有全、許曹德、蕭裕珍、林國華、林慧如、邱煌生 at 土城看守所, and 施明德 (on hunger strike) at 三軍總醫院. Liao’s account of the trip,〈回台記〉, was published in the NATPA 會報 (第五卷之一) — per ourjourneys74 (ZH) and ourjourneys74-eng (EN).
  • Host/coordinator, 1989 Plains Region Fall Camp (平原區台灣人秋令會), Springfield, MO, Jul 27–30, 1989 — theme 「新台灣人，新使命」 (New Taiwanese, New Mission), under TAA/St. Louis, per 2017-06 and the host roster in our-journeys-351. The camp host roster lists him as 「Liaw, K.T. 廖坤塗」 (romanization variant Liaw), alongside the 1988 Edmond, OK host 王明玉 and 1990 Emporia, KS host 鍾茂萃.
  • Major accomplishments of his NATMA term (1988–1990), per ourjourneys74 and ourjourneys74-eng: (1) published eight issues of the NATMA 會刊 on schedule, mailed to members and to medical-school libraries in Taiwan — compiled by the St. Louis chapter’s 朱真一, 沈武典 and 陳澤華; (2) established a permanent-membership system funded by prepaid lifetime dues to cover budget shortfalls; (3) created a NATMA Foundation scholarship sending second-generation Taiwanese Americans to medical-school internships in Taiwan; (4) researched charter amendments to open membership to second-generation doctors and other medical professionals.
  • HOLD — succession-date conflict in ourjourneys74: the same source states the 1984–1990 presidency line as 周烒明 → 楊次雄 → 廖坤塗 → 陳惠亭 (two-year terms, Liao third, 1988–1990), but in the next section says 「1986年下半年開始，NATMA第四任總會長由南加州的陳惠亭接任」 — 陳惠亭’s start date (1986 vs 1990) conflicts with Liao’s 1988–1990 term as recorded in the same memoir and in TAH Who’s Who. Not merged; kept as recorded.
  • Alias note: romanized as Liaw, K.T. in Plains Region camp rosters; Kun T. Liao in TAH Who’s Who records.

Sources

Connected in the Vault

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