Echopedia

Dr. Yuan-Tseh Lee (李遠哲博士)

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Dr. Yuan-Tseh Lee (李遠哲博士)

Identity Snapshot

  • English: Dr. Yuan-Tseh Lee
  • Chinese: 李遠哲博士
  • Era: 1936
  • Geography: Hsinchu, Taiwan
  • Core roles: scientist, professor
  • Source: TAH Foundation Who’s Who

Institute of Atomic Science, Tsinghua University M.S., Radiochemistry Group (1961)

Education

  • National Taiwan Univ. — 1959 — B.A., Chemistry
  • Institute of Atomic Science, Tsinghua Univ. — 1961 — M.S., Radiochemistry Group
  • Univ. of California Berkeley — 1965 — Ph.D., Chemistry
  • Harvard Univ. — 1968 — Post-doctoral research

Employment

  • Academia Sinica — President — (1994-2006) — International Science Council — President — (2011-2016)

Family

  • Wife: Bernice Wu Chin-li(吳錦麗)
  • Daughter: Charlotte Lee
  • Son: Ted Lee, Sidney Lee

Sources

Vault Absorbed (2026-09-14)

  • Named among the laureates honored by |Taiwan American Foundation (founded by Wang Gui-rong 王桂榮 to honor outstanding Taiwanese individuals worldwide), alongside 廖述宗, 柏楊, 李登輝, 彭明敏, 蘭大弼.
  • His TAH encyclopedia entry #24 records him as the first Nobel prize winner (Chemistry), dated 10/15/1986.
  • Vault work records: [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/whos-who-54-yuan-tseh-lee|TAH #54 Who’s Who profile]] (2014-10-04) and [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/3-prof-yuan-tze-lee|TAH #3 Prof. Yuan-tze Lee 李遠哲教授]] (2018-07-31).
  • No further biography invented; verification still pending against the cited TAH pages.

Role in the Community (deepen pass 2026-09-14, corpus-sourced)

  • [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/milestones31|TAH milestone #31]] records 1986-10-15: Nobel Prize in Chemistry, “The First T.A. received this award” — the corpus’s anchor entry for the “Pride of Taiwanese American” theme. This corroborates the truncated 10/15/198 date on the cited TAH #24 encyclopedia entry.
  • Three 2015 TAH story-series essays document his standing in the 台美人 community: [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/mystories240|TAH #240 台美人顧台灣 21：李遠哲旋風/林俊義 (2015-05)]] · [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/mystories253|TAH #253 台美人顧台灣 24：打造台灣新故鄉/李遠哲 (2015-05)]] · [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/248-e5-8f-b0-e7-be-8e-e4-ba-ba-e7-9a-84-e6-a6-ae-e8-80-80-ef-bc-88pride-of-taiwa|TAH #248 台美人的榮耀 10：親炙典範～談我所接觸到的李遠哲院長/蔣理容 (2015-05)]].
  • HOLD: name romanization conflict across corpus records — Yuan-Tseh (TAH #54, Who’s Who) vs Yuan-tze (TAH #3) vs Yan tze (TAH #24); never auto-merged.

Deepen-x re-check (slice 09142320-3, 2026-09-15)

  • Two further dated TAH records of his standing in the community, newly linked from this pass: [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/my-stories-697|TAH #697 我的學思歷程／李遠哲 (2019-09)]] and [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/videos116|TAH #116 【台灣演義】李遠哲的成長路 (2017-02)]]（另見異拼 Yuan-Tze Lee 標題）. Both are bibliographic/video records — no new biography absorbable beyond the existing sections.
  • Romanization HOLD widened, not merged: a fourth variant Yuan-Tze（TAH #116）now on record alongside Yuan-Tseh / Yuan-tze / Yan tze.

Deepen-x re-check (slice 09150316-24, 2026-09-15)

  • Corpus memoirs record his direct participation in community cultural life: TUF（南加州台灣人聯合基金會）history [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/ourjourneys301|TAH #301 林衡哲 /07/2017]] — 創辦人林衡哲親自返台中研院邀請院長李遠哲主講 1996 年《台灣文化之夜》（與北美洲台灣人教授協會合辦），由他自己決定題目《回台工作一千零一夜》，自述返台服務三年「是他人生中最有意義的三年」；演講者名單另見 [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/ourjourneys294|TAH #294 TUF 簡介 /06/2017]]（與林義雄、陳郁秀並列）。
  • Mother-tongue episode: [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/ourjourneys203|TAH #203 我對母語的看法 / 林榮松 /03/2016]] 記他在台美人教授協會年會首場演講改用北京話引場外抗議，其後所有演講改為「福佬話加英文」，作者視為從善如流的典範。
  • Community portrayals held in the vault: [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/ourfootsteps-23|TAH #23 油畫《李遠哲博士領取諾貝爾獎》/ 陳秀芳 /2018]]、[[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/mystories166|TAH #166 專訪《立足小分子 縱情大宇宙》/ 林俊義 /2014-12]]、傳記書目 [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/publications1049|TAH #1049 藍麗娟《李遠哲傳》/11/2016]] 及 [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/important2016-26|TAH milestone #26 該傳 2016-11 於台出版]]。
  • HOLD: the TUF memoir cites the 1996 lecture title both as《回台工作一千零一夜》and《返台工作一千零一夜》in the same essay — title variant recorded, not merged.

Deepen-x re-check (slice 10090315-18, 2026-10-10)

  • Newly absorbed community record: taiwaneseamerican.org 2012-03-15 report of his Berkeley talk on「Taiwanese Identity」 — a dated record of his public speaking on Taiwanese identity in the Bay Area, from the TAHS-affiliated taiwaneseamerican.org corpus (value band B, bibliographic record only).
  • Photographic record of the Nobel moment already in the vault: [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/photo-albums-historical-12|TAH historical photo album #12 — the 1986 Nobel Prize (Chemistry) award ceremony for Prof. Yuan-tze Lee in Sweden]], corroborating the corpus anchor at [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/milestones31|milestone #31]].
  • Romanization variants unchanged by this pass (Yuan-Tseh / Yuan-tze / Yuan-Tze / Yan tze all still on record; HOLD maintained). No new biography absorbable beyond the above.

Deepen-x re-check (slice 10101204-27, 2026-10-11)

Deepen-x re-check (slice 10112243-26, 2026-10-12)

  • 2019-01-02 public letter to President Tsai Ing-wen: among the four signatories (彭明敏、李遠哲、高俊明、吳澧培) urging her not to seek re-election in 2020 and to return executive power — a dated record of his civic intervention in the 台美人/台灣 political sphere, reported in taiwanjustice.net’s 2021 retrospective of the 2019-01-02 letter. Bibliographic/news record only.
  • 2000 — as sitting 中研院 president he recruited 翁啟惠 back to Taiwan to head the 生物化學多醣體研究室, per the taiwanjustice.net Welch Chemistry Prize coverage of 翁啟惠 (2021-09-08 report): dated evidence of his role as a talent-recruiting node in the Taiwanese scientific diaspora.
  • A 2025-03-27 陳茂雄 column frames him as 「台灣頂尖科學家」 par excellence in a 團結 vs 「劫收」 debate — opinion-column mention only, no biography absorbable.

Deepen-x re-check (slice 10121137-16, 2026-10-13)

  • Fresh ZH+EN sweep across all 5 corpus dirs returned the same 34-file hit set; three records newly linked, no new biography absorbable beyond them:
    • 2016-12-11 — 前中研院長李遠哲專訪, a dated interview record in the 新聞觀測站 tag pages (page 28 / page 27). Bibliographic record only.
    • 2017-06-20 — 「李遠哲：彰化有機會成為台灣甚至亞洲綠能領頭羊」 (民報, via the 台灣公義電子報 news digest 2017-06-21 digest): dated record of his public commentary on green-energy regional development.
    • 2022-10-14 — 「李遠哲評2050淨零」 with 蘇貞昌’s response, in the 2022九合一選舉 category archive (category page): his 淨零 policy statement entering the electoral discourse. News record only.
  • The 2019-01-02 four-signatory letter is corroborated by the 吳澧培 tag archive (tag: 吳澧培) — same event, no new facts. Romanization HOLD (Yuan-Tseh / Yuan-tze / Yuan-Tze / Yan tze) unchanged.

From the record

  • 2015-12-03 — [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/24-dr-yan-tze-lee-e6-9d-8e-e9-81-a0-e5-93-b2-e5-8d-9a-e5-a3-ab-the-first-nobel-p|TAH #24 encyclopedia record 「24. Dr. Yan tze Lee 李遠哲博士 / The first Nobel prize winner (Chemistry) / 10/15/1986」]] published in the taiwaneseamericanhistory.org story corpus, recording him as the first Nobel prize winner (Chemistry) with award date 10/15/1986. Bibliographic record only; the Yan-tze romanization variant stays in the HOLD set.

Graph View

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