Chang-Lin Tien (1935 - 2002)

NEC Distinguished Professor, University of California, Berkeley

	Dr. Chang-Lin Tien is University Professor Emeritus for the University of California system, and NEC Distinguished Professor of Engineering at its Berkeley campus. A faculty member at the University for over 40 years, he served for seven years as UC Berkeley's seventh Chancellor-the first Asian American to head a major research university in the United States. Concurrent with his Chancellorship, he was also A. Martin Berlin Chair Professor in Mechanical Engineering.

	Dr. Tien joined the mechanical engineering faculty at Berkeley in 1959, and rising through the ranks, he became a full professor, later chairman of the department, and for two years (1983-85) was Berkeley's Vice Chancellor--Research. He left Berkeley in 1988 and served for two years as Executive Vice Chancellor and UCI Distinguished Professor at U.C. Irvine before returning to Berkeley.

	Besides his numerous public service contributions, Dr. Tien has achieved a remarkably distinguished record as a scientist and educator. Internationally recognized for his research in heat transfer technology, he has received many honors, including the Max Jakob Memorial Award (1981), the highest international honor in his field. He has been a member of the National Academy of Engineering since 1976 and was elected in 1991 as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. A recipient of several teaching awards, Dr. Tien in 1962 became the youngest professor (at age 26) ever to win U.C. Berkeley's prestigious Distinguished Teaching Award. In 1999, the International Astronomical Union approved the naming of the asteroid (International Series 3643, a minor planet) as Tien Chang-Lin Star. He has been honored as a Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, as Honorary Member of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, and as recipient of the 2001 Founder's Award from the National Academy of Engineering.

	Anchored in both American and Asian cultures, Dr. Tien is deeply committed to maintaining educational excellence and diversity for all groups, especially those underprivileged. He has been active in many community relations activities and educational reform programs including those in primary and secondary schools. In engagements that frequently span the globe, he has vigorously pursued the goals of enhancing communications between East and West and promoting the American values of democracy and freedom across the world. He has been an active member of the Pacific Council on International Policy, the Council on Foreign Relations, and many others. Indicative of the scope of his leadership in both domestic and international arenas were his appointments as Chairman of the Asia Foundation, Chairman of the San Francisco Bay Area Economic Forum, and Chairman of the Chief Executive's Commission on Innovation and Technology in Hong Kong (ended in July, 1999). In 1999 Dr. Tien was appointed as a member of the U.S. National Science Board and the U.S. National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century. He has also served as co-chair of the National Commission on Asia in the Schools.

	Dr. Tien was born in Wuhan, China, July 24, 1935, and was educated in Shanghai and Taiwan. Completing his undergraduate education at the National Taiwan University, he came to the U.S. in 1956, earned a master's degree at the University of Louisville in 1957, and then earned an M.A. and a Ph.D. degree at Princeton University in 1959 (the same year that he joined the Berkeley faculty). A recipient of many honorary doctoral degrees from universities in the U.S. and abroad, he has also served on the boards of Wells Fargo Bank, Kaiser Permanente, and Shanghai Commercial Bank (Hong Kong), as well as a senior advisor to many high-tech venture funds and companies. In his professional work involved mostly in energy, environment, and high-tech areas, Dr. Tien has authored one book, edited seventeen volumes, and published more than 300 research journal and monograph articles.