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Chien-Te Chen, Taiwan University, outstanding alumni, synchrotron radiation
Congratulations to Academician Chien-Te Chen on Receiving NTU’s Outstanding Alumnus Honor
2025/11/24
Academician Chien-Te Chen (left) received the honor of NTU Outstanding Alumnus.
Since 2006, the National Taiwan University (NTU) Alumni Center has annually selected and honored outstanding alumni in five categories: Humanity and Arts, Academia, Industry and Business, Social Service, and Overall Achievement. This year (2025), eight recipients were selected. Among them, Academician Chien-Te Chen, former Director of the NSRRC and currently a member of the Board of Trustees, was honored in the Academia category for his distinguished research achievements and far-reaching contributions.

Academician Chen received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from NTU before pursuing his Ph.D. in physics at the University of Pennsylvania, USA. He later joined Bell Labs as a researcher, where he established the renowned Dragon Beamline, unprecedented in high flux and high resolution among soft X-ray monochromators worldwide. In 1995, he returned to Taiwan and devoted to the establishment and development of the NSRRC. He held the position as Deputy Director and later Director during the preparatory phase from 1995 to 1997 and 1997 to 2003, respectively. When NSRRC was officially established, he was appointed as the first Director (2003–2005) and later served as Acting Director in 2010. Although he retired in 2023, he continues to contribute to NSRRC’s mission as a Distinguished Scientist Emeritus, as well as a member of NSRRC’s Board of Trustees and Executive Board of Trustees (2003–2006 and since 2009).

Over a decade as Director and Deputy Director, Academician Chen spearheaded the construction of the Taiwan Light Source (TLS), 1.5 GeV synchrotron with a 120-meter circumference that became Taiwan’s first synchrotron radiation facility opened to users in 1993. Under his leadership, TLS underwent major facility development and achieved substantial scientific growth. During this period, he also facilitated the construction of two Taiwan-contract beamlines at SPring-8 in Japan, further strengthening international collaboration between the leading light sources.

From 2004 to 2015, Academician Chen led the team responsible for constructing the Taiwan Photon Source (TPS). Under his visionary leadership, the team overcame numerous technical challenges and brought the TPS to successful accomplishment. The TPS, with a beam of energy 3 GeV and a circumference of 518.4 meters, emerged as one of the most advanced synchrotron light sources in the world. The achievement of meeting the 500 mA routine-operation design goal was widely recognized as the glory of Taiwan. Since beginning user operation in 2016, TPS has provided a strong foundation for cutting-edge research in a broad range of areas, significantly enhancing Taiwan’s scientific capabilities and international academic standing for decades to come.

List of NTU Outstanding Alumni (in Chinese only)
Announcement of NTU Outstanding Alumnus Academician Chien-Te Chen (in Chinese only)