Chang Chun-yen

Chang was diagnosed with cancer in 2016. After two years of treatment, he died on 12 October 2018, his 81st birthday.

Chang is considered a founder of Taiwan's semiconductor industry, he was awarded the TWAS Prize for Engineering Sciences in 2006 and the Nikkei Asia Prize for Science in 2007.

He was a member of Academia Sinica. He was also elected an international member of the US National Academy of Engineering in 2000 for contributions to Taiwanese electronics industry, education, and materials technology.

Chang was awarded IEEE's Third Millennium Medal in 2000, the TWAS Prize for Engineering Sciences in 2006 "for his pioneering contributions to very large scale integration, opto-electronics, microwave devices and materials", and the Nikkei Asia Prize for Science in 2007.

On 1 August 1998, Chang became President of National Chiao Tung University. In 2002, he established the program "National System on Chip" (NSOC) to foster talent in system design.

Chang was elected as an IEEE Fellow in 1987 "for his contribution to semiconductor device development and to education". He became a member of Academia Sinica in 1996, and a foreign associate of the United States National Academy of Engineering in 2000.

He moved to National Cheng Kung University in 1977, where he pioneered Taiwan's research on semiconductor materials including gallium arsenide, amorphous silicon, and polycrystalline silicon. After 10 years at NCKU, he returned to NCTU in 1987 and established the National Nano Device Laboratories in 1990, serving as its director until 1997. He then served as director of NCTU's Microelectronics and Information System Research Center for a year.

In 1964, Chang, together with his colleagues Chang Jui-fu (張瑞夫) and Kuo Shuang-fa (郭雙發), founded the Semiconductor Research Center at NCTU, which was the first such center in Taiwan and considered the foundation of Taiwan's hi-tech industry.

Because of his father's involvement, Chang was blacklisted and forbidden from going abroad to study, and therefore received his entire education in Taiwan. After graduating with an electrical engineering degree from National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in 1960, he studied at the graduate school of National Chiao Tung University (NCTU), where he earned his MS in 1962 and his PhD in 1970, specializing in semiconductors. He was the first locally educated engineering PhD in Taiwan.

Chang Chun-yen (12 October 1937 – 12 October 2018) was a Taiwanese electrical engineer and professor who served as President of National Chiao Tung University (NCTU).

Chang was born on 12 October 1937 in Fongshan, Kaohsiung (formerly part of Tainan), Taiwan. His father Chang Mu-huo (張木火), a secondary school teacher, was fired after the February 28 incident and sentenced to death on charge of subversion for his involvement in the Madou incident.