James C. Liao

James C. Liao
廖俊智
Official portrait, 2016
9th President of the Academia Sinica
Assumed office
21 June 2016
Appointed byTsai Ing-wen
Vice PresidentWang Fan-sen
Andrew H. J. Wang
Wang Yu
Chin-Shing Huang
Mei-Yin Chou
Fu-Tong Liu
Tang K. Tang
Preceded byWang Fan-sen (acting)
Personal details
Born1958 (age 65–66)
Alma materNational Taiwan University (BS)
University of Wisconsin–Madison (PhD)
SpouseFu Chen
Scientific career
FieldsChemical engineering
InstitutionsEastman Kodak
Texas A&M University
University of California, Los Angeles
Academia Sinica
Political partyIndependent

James C. Liao (Chinese: 廖俊智) is a Taiwanese-American chemist. He is the Parsons Foundation Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles,[1][2] and is the co-founder and lead scientific advisor of Easel Biotechnologies, LLC.[3]

He is best known for his work in metabolic engineering, synthetic biology, and bioenergy. Liao has been recognized for the biosynthesis and production of higher alcohols such as isobutanol from sugars, cellulose, waste protein, or carbon dioxide.

He was named the president of Academia Sinica, Taiwan, in June 2016.[4]

  1. ^ "James C. Liao — UCLA Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering". Archived from the original on 2014-10-22. Retrieved 2014-09-23.
  2. ^ "James C. Liao, Metabolic Engineering and Synthetic Biology Laboratory".
  3. ^ "About | Easel Biotechnologies, LLC".
  4. ^ Chung, Jake (4 June 2016). "Liao named Academia Sinica head". Taipei Times. Retrieved 4 June 2016.