Dr. Earl J. S. Ho, Chairman of Tung-Ho Steel Enterprise Corporation made a generous donation to NTHU recently. This donation, in the handsome amount of 200 million NTD, will be used to set up the Ho Jing-Dwei Chair Professorship to support the development of NTHU.

Specifically, part of this donation will be used to recruit top talents worldwide. As a public institution, NTHU's recruitment system is constrained, and hence at times difficult to stay ahead in the race for top talents, especially against the fierce competition from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Singapore. This timely injection of funds from the Foundation has provided the competitive edge needed in hiring and maintaining the best professors. According to President Chen this is especially significant because, as of last August, MOE has agreed to the Merit-Based Compensation System proposed by NTHU.

In addition to being used in attracting talents, the grant will also be spent on promoting the quality of education, and cover the expenses needed to elevate NTHU to compete with top institutions around the world. According to President Chen the successful recruitment of Drs. Keh-Yung Chen and K.C. Hsieh, both UIUC (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) tenured professors; as well as NTHU's National. Chair Professor Show-An Chen, whom originally was scheduled to retire in August, deciding to stay on, all can be attributed in part to this generous donation. An attractive salary and the research environment—including its laboratory and administrative supports—will also facilitate domestic competition for the recruiting of talents.

Mr. Tsong-Chi Ho, Special Assistant to Chairman Ho, was on hand to explain the significance of this donation. The old Tsing Hua excelled because of the Boxer Rebellion Indemnity Fund, but the fund is so depleted that it is imperative to have other resource, to maintain NTHU's excellence. The Ho Jing-Dwei Foundaition has been supporting domestic education in science and technology for more than 20 years, and has decided that the advancement of science and technology can be better facilitated through the implementation of a Ho Jing-Dwei Chair at NTHU.