November 16, 2005

Taiwanese foreign minister to speak at alma mater Purdue

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Tan Sun "Mark" Chen, foreign minister of Taiwan and a Purdue University alumnus, will return to his alma mater on Monday (Nov. 21) to speak.

Chen, who earned his doctorate in earth and atmospheric sciences from Purdue in 1972, will give a lecture entitled "Taiwan's Current Situation and Future Development" at 7 p.m. in Stewart Center's Fowler Hall. His talk, which is free and open to the public, will include a discussion of U.S.-Taiwan relations and on developing Taiwan-Indiana economic opportunities.

Chen was born in Taiwan in 1935, and he graduated from National Taiwan University in 1959 with a degree in atmospheric physics. He received his master's degree in atmospheric physics from the University of Oklahoma in 1966 before attending Purdue.

From 1973 to 1992 he served at the U.S. Department of Commerce. An active participant in the overseas Taiwanese community, he was chosen in 1990 as Outstanding Asian Community Leader in the United States. In 1992 he returned to Taiwan and became a member of the Legislative Yuan (Congress). He has been minister of foreign affairs since April 2004.

Writer: Chad Boutin, (765) 494-2081, cboutin@purdue.edu

Source: Jonathan Harbor, head of the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, (765) 494-4753, jharbor@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

Note to journalists: Tan Sun "Mark" Chen will be on campus on Monday and Tuesday (Nov. 21 and 22) for tours of Discovery Park and the Purdue Research Park. To arrange interviews during the day, contact Chad Boutin or Jon Harbor (contact information is included above).

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