Sheng-Cheng Hu

Sheng-Cheng Hu has distinguished himself in the area of economics.

Sheng-Cheng Hu

He is currently a minister of economics in the cabinet of Taiwan, living in Taipei.

Born and raised in Ilan, Taiwan, Hu attended National Taiwan University, earning his bachelor’s degree in economics in 1962. He then came to the United States to earn a doctorate in economics from the University of Rochester in 1970.

Hu came to West Lafayette in 1968 to join Purdue’s staff, teaching in the School of Management for 28 years. His specialty is in macroeconomics, public economics and theory of economic growth.

In 1996, Hu returned to his home country to become director of the Institute of Economics, Academia Sinica, the highest academic institution (think tank) in Taiwan. He also has been part of the Department of Economics faculty at National Taiwan University and was a visiting examiner in the Department of Economics for Chinese University of Hong Kong. In 1999, he was elected president of the Taiwan Economic Association. In 2000, he was elected an Academician, the highest academic honor in Taiwan.

Hu was a member of the board of directors of the Central Bank for 2000 and 2001. Since then, he has served in the cabinet as a minister without portfolio. In that capacity, he is responsible for reviewing laws and bills submitted by the cabinet by the ministries of Economic Affairs, Finance, Agriculture, Labor and Health, and coordinating the policy initiatives from these ministries. He reports directly to the president of Taiwan.

Hu was instrumental in the development of the Taiwanese Social Security System and the Taiwanese National Medical Insurance Systems, which were lauded as a success in a story on "ABC Evening News."

He also is active in promoting deregulation of industry commensurate with world trade policy. He frequently attends and helps sponsor national and international conferences in Taiwan that concern macroeconomic and consumer economic issues.