Name Kwoh-Ting Li | Role Economist | |
 | ||
Died May 31, 2001, Taipei, Taiwan Education National Central University Books The Evolution of Policy Behind Taiwan's Development Success | ||
Kwoh-Ting Li (traditional Chinese: 李國鼎; simplified Chinese: 李国鼎; pinyin: Lǐ Guódǐng; January 28, 1910 – May 31, 2001) was a Chinese economist and politician best known as the "Father of Taiwan's Economic Miracle" for his work in transforming Taiwan's economy from an agrarian-based system into one of the world's leading producers of information and telecommunications technology. He is renowned as the "Godfather of Technology" in Taiwan.
Biography
Li was born in Nanjing, Republican China, in 1910 and graduated from National Central University (Nanjing University) in 1930 and Cambridge University in 1934.
He held a number of leadership positions in industry and government in Taiwan, including that of economic minister from 1965 to 1969 and finance minister from 1969 to 1976. In 1968, he received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service. His residence in Taipei is now a museum. In 2011, an asteroid (239611 Likwohting) was named after Li.
Four professorships at Stanford University are named for Dr. Li in the fields of economic development, engineering, medicine and Chinese culture. As of 2014, the holders in each field are: economic development (Xueguang Zhou), engineering (Yinyu Ye), medicine (Stanley N. Cohen) and Chinese culture (Mark Edward Lewis).