Tsu-Jae King Liu facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tsu-Jae King Liu
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Liu in 2024
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| President of the National Academy of Engineering | |
| Assumed office July 1, 2025 |
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| Dean of the UC Berkeley College of Engineering | |
| In office June 2018 – June 2025 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | June 4, 1963 Ithaca, New York, U.S. |
| Education | Stanford University (BS, MS, PhD) |
Tsu-Jae King Liu (Chinese: 劉金智潔, born June 4, 1963) is an American electrical engineer and a very important leader in the world of science and technology. She is currently the president of the National Academy of Engineering. Before this, she was the dean of the College of Engineering at UC Berkeley.
At UC Berkeley, Dr. Liu led a research team that worked on creating new types of tiny electronic parts. These parts include semiconductor devices, special memory devices that don't lose information when power is off, and M/NEMS technology. This technology helps make circuits that use very little power. Her team was part of important research centers focused on new technologies and energy-efficient electronics.
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Early Life and Education
Tsu-Jae King Liu was born in Ithaca, New York. Her parents were from Taiwan and were studying at Cornell University at the time. Her father studied how to predict earthquakes. Because of his work, Dr. Liu spent most of her childhood in the San Francisco Bay Area.
When she was in high school, Dr. Liu visited a research center called PARC. There, she saw a demonstration of an early computer called the Xerox Alto. This visit made her very interested in computers and technology. She went on to study electrical engineering at Stanford University. She earned three degrees from Stanford: a bachelor's degree in 1984, a master's degree in 1986, and a Ph.D. in 1994.
Career Highlights
After finishing her studies at Stanford University, Dr. Liu joined the research team at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) in 1992. She worked there until 1996, focusing on special transistors made from thin films. In August 1996, she became a professor at UC Berkeley in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department.
Dr. Liu has made many important discoveries in the field of semiconductor devices and technology. She has also written over 500 research papers.
Key Inventions and Contributions
One of Dr. Liu's most famous contributions is her work on a technology called polycrystalline silicon-germanium thin film. This technology is used in integrated circuits and tiny systems. She also helped invent the three-dimensional FinFET transistor. This special transistor design is now used in almost all modern computer chips. Because of her work on the FinFET, she was chosen to be a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2017.
Dr. Liu holds more than 94 patents for her inventions in semiconductor devices. Patents protect her ideas and inventions. She also founded a company called Progressant Technologies, which was later bought by Synopsys in 2004.
Leadership Roles
As the dean of Berkeley's College of Engineering, Dr. Liu worked hard to make engineering a welcoming field for everyone. She especially focused on increasing diversity and supporting women and minority groups in engineering.
Before becoming dean, she held many other leadership positions at Berkeley. She was the director of the Marvell Nanofabrication Laboratory. From 2008 to 2012, she was an associate dean for research in the College of Engineering. She also led the Electrical Engineering Division from 2012 to 2014 and the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department from 2014 to 2016.
She also worked as a senior director of engineering at Synopsys. From 2016 to 2025, Dr. Liu was a member of the board of directors for Intel, a major technology company. In 2024, she received the IEEE Founders Medal, a prestigious award. In September 2024, she was chosen to be the next president of the National Academy of Engineering. Her term as president officially began on July 1, 2025.
Awards and Recognition
Dr. Liu has received many awards for her amazing research and contributions to science:
- Elected Member, National Academy of Inventors (2018)
- Elected Member, National Academy of Engineering (2017)
- Fellow, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
- DARPA Significant Technical Achievement Award, for her work on FinFET (2000)
- IEEE Kiyo Tomiyasu Award, for her work on tiny MOS transistors (2010)
- Outstanding Research Award, Semiconductor Industry Association (2014)
- Inductee, Silicon Valley Hall of Fame
- Outstanding Researcher in Nanotechnology Award, Intel (2012)
- SIA University Researcher Award (2012)
- Asia Society's Game Changer West Award (2021)
She has also been recognized for her excellent teaching and for guiding students:
- Outstanding Teaching Award, Electrical Engineering
- Distinguished Faculty Mentoring Award, UC Berkeley
- Aristotle Award, Semiconductor Research Corporation
