Highlights from the Memorial and Book Launch for "A Pioneering Woman Scientist’s Journey in the Women’s Movement"

On December 24, 2022, Tamkang University, the Awakening Foundation, TWiST, the Taiwan Gender Equity Education Association, and Fembooks jointly hosted A Pioneering Woman Scientist’s Journey in the Women’s Movement—A Memorial and Book Launch for Phytochemist Chiari Wu. The event concluded on a warm and heartfelt note at Fembooks.

Friends, family, and members of the public who loved Professor Wu, had crossed paths with her, or wished to know her better were invited to remember her smile and reflect on the challenges she overcame. The gathering honored her influential journey as a woman scientist and women’s rights advocate whose work inspired generations.

Photo source: Facebook post by TWiST Board Member Lydia Hsiao-Mei Lin.

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A Pioneering Woman Scientist’s Journey in the Women’s Movement: Phytochemist Chiari Wu

Author Biography

Chiari Wu (June 24, 1947–October 9, 2021)

Chiari Wu was a Taiwanese phytochemist, chemistry scholar, professor in the Department of Chemistry at Tamkang University, and women’s rights activist. She was among the founders of Awakening Magazine, the Awakening Foundation, the Taiwan Association for Women’s Studies, and the Taiwan Women in Science and Technology Association (TWiST).

Her former positions included serving on the administrative committee during the founding period of Awakening Magazine; serving as a board member during the first and second terms and as chair during the third term of the Awakening Foundation; serving as a member of the Examination Yuan; serving as the first- and second-term president of TWiST; serving as the 17th- and 18th-term president of the Taiwan Association for Women’s Studies; serving as a second-term member of the Executive Yuan’s Gender Equality Committee; and serving as a ninth-term executive board member of the Foundation for Women’s Rights Promotion and Development.

Professor Wu specialized in the chemistry of bryophytes. She was deeply committed to public science education and the development of women in science and technology. Throughout her life, she advocated for women’s rights, promoted gender-equity education, and devoted her passion and energy to public affairs.

Her publications include Chemistry, Medicine, and Society and Chemistry, Food, and Society. She planned and edited Dreaming Big: My World, My Universe (Volumes I and II) and Building Dreams and Flying: My World, My Universe. She also edited A New History of Chinese Science and Technology (Volumes I and II). She received the Chinese Chemical Society’s Special Contribution Award in 1999 and 2021.

Chief Planner

Hsien-Cheng Tseng

Hsien-Cheng Tseng is a Taiwanese chemical engineering researcher and educator. He formerly served as professor in the Department of Applied Science and president of National Hsinchu University of Education.

He earned a doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Washington in Seattle. After returning to Taiwan, he taught at Tamkang University, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, and other institutions. In 1998, he served as Director-General of the Kaohsiung City Government Education Bureau. In 2003, he became a professor and president of National Hsinchu Teachers College, now known as National Hsinchu University of Education.

Tseng met Chiari Wu while they were studying in the United States and became her spiritual companion, source of family support, and professional partner. After returning to Taiwan and teaching at Tamkang University, he introduced Wu to Professor Yuan-Chen Lee, beginning her decades of involvement in Taiwan’s women’s movement during the 1980s.

Editors

Hsin-Pei Yu

Hsin-Pei Yu studied philosophy at Soochow University and earned a doctorate from the Department of Chinese Literature at Tamkang University. She previously worked in marketing and planning at Fembooks and spent four years in France conducting research in poetics.

She is currently the founder of Xinpei Audio Culture and has produced numerous audiobooks and the audio film Yellow Moon: Wandering Women’s Voices. Her publications include Travelling through Taiwan’s Souvenirs and A Person in the Fog: A Record of Working with Schizophrenia.

Yi-Hsuan Chiu

Yi-Hsuan Chiu studied at the Graduate Institute of Taiwan Culture at National Taipei University of Education. She formerly served as Administrative Manager of the Kishu An Forest of Literature and Director of Marketing and Planning at Wen Hsun Magazine.

She has curated exhibitions including the Taiwan Literary Magazine Exhibition and The Rainbow Years: An Exhibition of Taiwanese LGBTQ+ Literature. Her edited publications include Where I Am Not: Field Notes from Literary Sites and Toward Great Harmony: A Guide to LGBTQ+ Life in Taipei.

For further information, please visit Fembooks.