Echopedia

Dr. Tu Chen (陳都博士)

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Dr. Tu Chen (陳都博士)

Identity Snapshot

  • English: Dr. Tu Chen
  • Chinese: 陳都博士
  • Era: 1935
  • Geography: Yilan, Taiwan
  • Core roles: engineer, entrepreneur, scientist
  • Source: TAH Foundation Who’s Who

Accomplishment

  1. President of |Taiwanese Association of America (TAA) (全美台灣同鄉會會長) 1983~1984

Education

  • National Cheng Kung Univ. — 1958 — B.S., Metallurgical Engineering
  • Univ. of Minnesota — 1964 — M.S., Metallurgical Engineering
  • Univ. of Minnesota — 1967 — Ph.D., Metallurgical Engineering

Employment

  • Northrop — Senior Scientist — (1968-) — Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) — Researcher — (1971-) — Komag Inc. — Co-founder and Chairman — (1983-1999) — Headway Corporation — Co-founder and Vice Chairman — (1996-2001) — Community — Taiwanese Association of America (TAA) — President (1983-1984) — World Federation of Taiwanese Associations (WFTA) — President (1983-1987) — Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA) — Board of Director (1982-1986, 2003-2007)

Career notes

  • Born 1935 in Yilan, Taiwan.
  • B.S. in Metallurgical Engineering from National Cheng Kung University (1958); M.S. (1964) and Ph.D. (1967), both in Metallurgical Engineering, from the University of Minnesota.
  • Senior Scientist at Northrop from 1968; researcher at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) from 1971.
  • Co-founder and Chairman of Komag Inc. (1983–1999); described by TAH as a famous computer-business enterpriser in San Jose, CA. Co-founder and Vice Chairman of Headway Corporation (1996–2001).
  • Komag, co-founded 1983 with 陳俊雄/Scott Chenk and Ching-Cheng Shir, made thin-film disks for hard drives; the head–disk interface problem that had blocked the technology since the 1960s was solved at Komag in 1984, the company went public in 1987, and at its peak was the world’s largest independent thin-film disk maker with over 4,000 employees — see [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/ourjourneys19|Our Journeys #19 在矽谷創業臺美人]].

Community roles

  • President of the |Taiwanese Association of America (TAA), 1983–1984.
  • President of the World Federation of Taiwanese Associations (WFTA), 1983–1987.
  • Board of Director, Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), 1982–1986 and 2003–2007.
  • First chairman of the Northern California Federation of Taiwanese Associations (北加州台灣同鄉聯合會第一屆會長) — see [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/ourjourneys106|Our Journeys #106]]. HOLD: #106 lists him as 聯合會第一屆會長 while [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/ourjourneys38|Our Journeys #38]] records him as 協志會/北加州聯合會第四屆會長 (1977) — likely two different bodies (協志會 vs 北加州聯合會); not auto-merged.
  • Founding-era leader of 台灣協志會 (Taiwanese Alliance for Interculture, TAI, South Bay, 1973): as 籌備會召集人 convened the first preparatory meeting on 1973-04-21 and asked 姚嘉文 and 石清正 to draft the charter; at the 1973-05-18 founding (43 members) he was elected to the first board and served as first Vice-president under Founding President John J. Y. Huang — see [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/ourjourneys37|Our Journeys #37 台灣協志會成立與大事記]]（EN: [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/ourjourneys37-eng|#37 EN]]）.
  • 《臺灣政論》舊金山地區代表 (1975.12), one of 12 Northern American regional representatives — see [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/our-journeys-357|Our Journeys #357]].
  • Performer with the 協志會 Penglai Opera Troupe (蓬萊歌劇團): satirical skits such as 「新超西遊記」 were a standing joke that triggered extra 協調會 visa questioning — see [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/ourjourneys39|Our Journeys #39]].
  • Blacklisted by the KMT government: US visa offices would ask applicants 「你是陳都的朋友嗎？」 as a screening question — see [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/ourjourneys106|Our Journeys #106]].

Other vault records（deepen 2026-09-10，僅彙整 vault 內既有記載）

  • [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/outstanding-achievement-award-umn-tu-chen||TAH #5：明尼蘇達大學傑出校友獎]] — 2015-11-16 獲 Outstanding Achievement Award by University of Minnesota。
  • [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/ourjourneys65||Our Journeys #65]]：1982 年初 FAPA 籌組會議（1/13–14，十五人與會）記載時任全美會會長陳都負責組織，並於 1982 年 6 月西海岸巡迴時同行奔走。
  • [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/ourjourneys9-eng||Our Journeys #9]]：1983-11-12 紐約台灣會館購館募款宴，以世台會（WFTA）理事長身份到场聲援。
  • [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/publication1296||TAH #1296：薄磁介質演進與資訊科技成長（2013）]] — 陳都署名之技術論文（The Evolution of Thin Film Magnetic Media…/Tu Chen/2013），與其 Komag 薄磁碟事業相互印證。
  • [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/ourjourneys123||Our Journeys #123：明州台美人百年大事]]（曾啟明/2015/03）：以明州百年大事記形式記載 2015 年 11 月磁碟儲存科技公司 Komag 共同創辦人陳都獲頒明大傑出校友獎（明大 1964 冶金碩士、1967 博士）——與上列 Outstanding Achievement Award 記錄相互印證，無新增事實。

Family

  • Wife: Pi-Fang Nancy
  • Son: Glenn, John

Sources

  • |TAH Foundation
  • |Taiwanese Association of America (TAA)
  • |taiwaneseamericanhistory.org
  • [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/25-dr-tu-chen||TAH #25 profile]]
  • [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/107-dr-tu-chen-e9-99-b3-e9-83-bd-e5-8d-9a-e5-a3-ab-famous-enterpriser-in-compute||TAH #107 profile (San Jose enterpriser)]]
  • [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/whos-who-17-chen-tu-chen||TAH #17 profile]]
  • [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/92-dr-tu-chen-dr-c-c-shir-and-dr-c-s-huang-e9-99-b3-e9-83-bd-e3-80-81-e7-9f-b3-e||TAH #92 百科條目（Dr. Tu Chen 等三人）]] — vault 內另一則含本人之條目

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