In Remembrance of Professor Min-Te Chao, Founding Director of the Institute

  Professor Min-Te Chao, the founding Director of the Institute of Statistical Science, Academia Sinica, was born in Hubei on January 23, 1938. He graduated from the Department of Mathematics at National Taiwan University in 1961 and went on to pursue graduate studies in the United States, receiving his Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1967. After completing his doctorate, he worked at Bell Laboratories and AT&T, where he conducted research in statistics and data analysis. Throughout his years in the United States, he remained deeply committed to the development of statistics in Taiwan. He returned to Taiwan on several occasions to conduct research at the Institute of Mathematics, Academia Sinica, and actively contributed to advancing the statistical community in Taiwan.

Founding the Institute and Laying Its Academic Foundations

  In 1982, Director Chao made the courageous decision to return to Taiwan and took on the responsibility of establishing the Institute of Statistical Science at Academia Sinica, serving as Director of its Preparatory Office. He devoted himself wholeheartedly to every aspect of the Institute’s creation—from its planning and organization to the recruitment and nurturing of research talent and the development of its research environment and academic culture. In 1987, the Institute of Statistics was formally established and subsequently renamed the Institute of Statistical Science. Professor Chao served as its Founding Director and later as its second Director, remaining in office until 1993.

  In the Institute’s formative years, Director Chao welcomed outstanding scholars from Taiwan and abroad, actively nurtured young researchers, and worked to create an academic environment that was open, free, and full of intellectual enthusiasm. Under his leadership, the Institute developed a strong tradition of intellectual independence, academic exchange, and mentorship. These values laid a lasting foundation for its future development. To the Institute, Director Chao was not only its founder, but also a key architect of its early academic direction and research culture.

  Director Chao’s care for the Institute is also evident in its physical spaces and history. The Institute’s building was designed by architect Chu-yuan Lee, a high school classmate whom Director Chao personally invited to undertake the project—a lasting testament to the thought he devoted to creating an inspiring research environment. The Chinese and English titles of Statistica Sinica, the international journal jointly published by the Institute and the International Chinese Statistical Association, were also conceived by Director Chao. These details, though seemingly small, reflect the breadth of his vision and his deep care for the Institute, from its scholarly pursuits to the environment in which scholarship flourished.

Nurturing the Statistical Community and Advancing the Discipline

  Beyond founding the Institute, Director Chao devoted himself to Taiwan’s statistical community for many years and had a profound influence on its development. He served as a founding board member of the Chinese Institute of Probability and Statistics (CIPS) (1992–1995) and was a long-standing supporter and participant in the Southern Taiwan Statistical Conference. Through his sustained involvement, he helped foster communication among statisticians and strengthen the bonds within the statistical community. In recognition of his outstanding contributions to raising the standards of statistical scholarship and advancing the field in Taiwan, the CIPS resolved, at its 10th Board Meeting, to establish the Min-Te Chao Lecture Award in his honor. The lectureship not only recognizes his scholarly contributions, but also represents the respect and legacy passed on by generations of younger scholars to a pioneer of statistics in Taiwan.

  Director Chao also devoted considerable energy to the activities and scholarly publishing of the Chinese Statistical Association (Taiwan), for which he received an honorary award. He played an important role in transforming the Journal of the Chinese Statistical Association, advocating that a publication originally focused primarily on newsletters and communications be reshaped into a journal centered on scholarly research articles. After the proposal was approved, he served as Editor-in-Chief for two years, helping strengthen the journal’s academic character and promote scholarly exchange among statisticians in Taiwan. In 2002, he received the Chinese Statistical Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his longstanding contributions to statistical research, academic service, and the advancement of statistics in Taiwan.

  Director Chao’s academic service extended even further. He served as the inaugural Convener of the Statistics Discipline in the Department of Natural Sciences of the National Science Council, where he actively promoted statistical research and the development of young scholars in Taiwan. He also remained deeply concerned about statistical education, advocating for the establishment of statistics departments at universities across Taiwan. He believed that a strong system of higher education was essential for cultivating future generations of statisticians and building a lasting foundation for the discipline.

Looking Toward Data Science and the World

  Director Chao’s vision for statistics extended naturally into data science and international scholarly exchange. In 2003, on the occasion of his 65th birthday, he founded the Journal of Data Science and served as its Editor-in-Chief for eight years, dedicating himself to broadening international exchange between statistics and the emerging field of data science. This endeavor reflected not only his keen awareness of the evolving direction of statistics, but also his foresight in connecting Taiwan’s statistical scholarship with the international academic community.

  From the beginning of the Institute’s planning in 1982 until his retirement from the Institute of Statistical Science in 2004, Director Chao witnessed its transformation into one of Taiwan’s leading centers for statistical research. What he established was far more than an academic institution. He cultivated a spirit that valued intellectual freedom, encouraged innovative research, nurtured young scholars, and embraced active participation in the wider academic community. The Institute’s continued development and international presence today are inseparable from the seeds he planted more than four decades ago.

A Life Enriched by the Humanities

  Beyond the rigor of statistical scholarship, Director Chao possessed a deep appreciation for the humanities and a remarkable talent for literary writing. Although mathematics and statistics were his lifelong academic pursuits, he maintained a lasting love of literature. His fiction was praised by the distinguished writer Ding-jun Wang for its “precision of poetry, dramatic tension, and narrative breadth.” This rare combination of scientific rigor and literary creativity gave Director Chao a distinctive humanistic spirit and a richness that extended well beyond the boundaries of his academic discipline.

A Legacy That Endures

  Director Chao passed away peacefully at home on August 15, 2026, at the age of 88. All members of the Institute of Statistical Science, Academia Sinica, mourn the loss of our founding Director with profound respect and affection. More than four decades ago, Director Chao envisioned and built a home for statistical research. Today, that institution has grown into an important center of statistical research in Taiwan, with a meaningful presence in the international academic community.

  Looking back on Director Chao’s life, we remember not only a scholar who pursued a deeper understanding of statistics, but also a visionary who devoted himself to advancing the discipline in Taiwan. Through founding the Institute, recruiting and mentoring scholars, nurturing younger generations, and fostering academic exchange, he shaped a community grounded in intellectual freedom, openness, and the pursuit of excellence.

  What Director Chao leaves behind is more than the institutional and scholarly foundations of the Institute. He leaves a lasting belief in the freedom of inquiry, the importance of nurturing talent, and the enduring pursuit of excellence. Although Director Chao has now taken his leave, his intellectual passion, vision, and contributions will continue to live on through the Institute’s research and academic traditions. His legacy will remain woven into the history of the Institute—and, most importantly, into the shared memories of all those whose lives and scholarship he touched.