On May 9, a resolution was passed to set up a preparatory office. On July 4, the government decided that Academia Sinica was to be affiliated with the Ministry of Education and Research. Mr. Tsai Yuanpei, the Ministry's President, organized a preparatory committee of thirty renowned scholars to commence with the project.
On April 10, 1928, Academia Sinica gained independence from the Ministry of Education and Research. Mr. Tsai Yuanpei was appoined as its first President. Academia Sinica is the most preeminent academic institution in the Republic of China (ROC). Over the years, Academia Sinica has been devoted to two major tasks: undertaking in-depth academic research on various subjects in the sciences and humanities, and raising academic standards in the country.
Before the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, Academia Sinica already had ten institutes located in Nanking and Shanghai. When the Nationalist government retreated from mainland China in 1949, only two institutes ˇ]the institute of History and Philology, and the institute of Mathematicsˇ^moved to Taiwan. During this unsettled period, books, periodicals, and archaeological objects were stored in Yangmei Railway Station's warehouse. In 1954, Academia Sinica moved to its present site in Nankang, Taiwan, thanks to Mr. Chu Chiahua, then President of Academia Sinica.
Academia Sinica owes much of its tremendous progress in the intervening years to the leadership of President Hu Shih, Wang Shichie, Chien Siliang and Wu Tayou. Our current President, Dr. Yuan T. Lee, a Nobel laureate in chemistry and a scholar of international acclaim, was inaugurated on January 15,1994. Dr. Sunney I. Chan. and Dr. Cyrus C. Y. Chu, Vice Presidents, are responsible for managing academic and administrative affairs.