McCabe Travels to Taiwan to Celebrate Historic Collaborations

George P. McCabeGeorge P. McCabe
George P. McCabe, Professor of Statistics and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, recently returned from a visit to National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in Tainan, Taiwan. As part of a three professor Purdue delegation which included Associate Deans of Engineering Klod Kokini and Vincent Bralts, McCabe attended the inaugural ceremony on January 19, 2009 of a joint Purdue-NCKU exhibition commemorating a decade of support and friendship between the two universities that existed more than 50 years ago. The exhibition showcases the Purdue-NCKU Project (1953-1963) during the years following the Korean War in which the United States provided significant financial support to create and sustain Asia Pacific region universities and scholarships to promote their academic growth.

"NCKU President Michael M.C. Lai and Dr. Jenny Su, Vice President for International Affairs at NCKU, both expressed their commitment to developing collaborative relationships with Purdue," said McCabe. "The goal of the College of Science is to focus on people-powered, research-oriented collaborations," said McCabe. "Building on our history, we're excited about creating connections for the future."

While in Taiwan McCabe had a chance to visit with several Department of Statistics alums including: Dr. Mong-Na Lo Huang (Ph.D. 1983), Professor in the Department of Applied Mathematics at National Sun Yat-Sen University; Dr. Wen-Jang Huang (Ph.D. 1983), Professor in the Institute of Statistics at National University of Kaohsiung, 2007 College of Science Distinguished Alum, founding Chair of the Department of Applied Mathematics, founding Director of the Institute of Statistics, founding Dean of the College of Science and former Vice President at National University of Kaohsiung; Dr. Yeong-Tzay Su (Ph.D. 1990), Professor of Mathematics, National Kaohsiung Normal University (NKNU) and former Chair of the Department of Mathematics at NKNU from 2001-2004; and Dr. Mei-Mei Zen (Ph.D. 1991), Professor of Statistics and former Chair of the Department of Statistics at NCKU from 1998-2001. There are currently 18 Department of Statistics alums living and working in Taiwan.

George McCabe with some former Statistics alums at NCKU in Taiwan Pictured left to right: Zue-Seng Chen, Yeong-Tzay Su, Mei-Mei Zen,
George P. McCabe, Mong-Na Lo Huang and Wen-Jang Huang

February 2009