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Dear Vice President Chen, Secretary-General Lin, President Lai, President Chang, Former President Lee, Former President Wong, Acting President Wang, distinguished guests and colleagues:

First of all, I would to like thank all of the distinguished guests for taking time out of their busy schedules to attend this inauguration. Upon being appointed as the 11^th President of Academia Sinica by the President on the recommendation of the Academia Sinica Council, I feel a deep sense of responsibility. After staying in the United States for many years, I am honored to be able to come back and become a member of Academia Sinica. Starting with my personal commitment, I am dedicated to building the Academy, which is Taiwan’s own asset, as well as continuing the Academia Sinica heritage.

Academia Sinica has been established for nearly 90 years, and under the leadership of President Wong and the previous presidents and many years of dedicated national development, has already become an internationally renowned academic organization with three broad divisions, the Division of Mathematics and Physical Sciences, the Division of Life Sciences and the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences. Several research areas have already produced world-level pioneering leaders, and concrete breakthroughs in the area of cross-disciplinary research. Former President Wong actively improved the environment and the facilities at the Academy, enhanced the quality of the academic research, recruited and nurtured outstanding talent, deliberated important national issues and made policy suggestions, for which I would like to extend my gratitude. In addition, Acting President Fan-Sen Wang ensured the smooth running of the Academy over the recent difficult period, for which I would like to express my thanks.

As President of Academia Sinica, it is necessary to act to stimulate innovation in research, lead and integrate cutting-edge research, inspire colleagues, and stimulate the morale of the administrative staff. Upon taking office, I will maintain a sincere and pragmatic attitude to deepen my understanding of the Academy’s situation and culture, listen to opinions of all parties and adhere to the principle of sincerity to enhance communication. I have three visions for Academia Sinica that I hope that all the members of the Academy can strive towards together.

• Academia Sinica will drive social progress by research. We will focus on basic research, and actively guide applications.
• Academia Sinica will maintain balanced development in the three divisions, and will place importance on solving the fundamental issues of societal significance.
• Quality will be emphasized over quantity. We will seek to make a real contribution to academia and society, and avoid overly simplistic evaluation of research. We will give the younger generation hope. The young people here are the people who care about the future development.

It is a long tortuous road to academic excellence; the tireless efforts of our colleagues in academic research as well as their devotion is the main driving force that maintains the stable growth of Academia Sinica. Looking to the future, let us make a concerted effort to bring research achievements in our areas of strength to the highest world standards, working together to attain leading positions in Asia in many research areas, ultimately leading to the goal of propelling academic and social progress. I now already consider Academia Sinica to be my home. To all my family members I say, let us roll up our sleeves, and push the historic significance of Academia Sinica even further to the next level to become the pride of Taiwan. Thank you.