I got to know Chang-lin Tien in 1974, when I came back to my alma mater to teach. He was already a department chairman back then, and I heard he was very capable and efficient. His ability to get things done in the department received a lot of favorable comments.

The first time I saw him was at a large conference. He stood up, presented a lot of ideas and spoke a lot, which made a deep impression on me. I'm more shy and not so eloquent.

In administrative work, you have to coordinate requirements in all kinds of different areas and deal with various contradictions. I'm no good at that. Science seeks truth, and my attitude to things is to track down right and wrong until the truth finally emerges. That can hurt some people's pride. People aren't science, after all, and they aren't always so cut and dried.

Judging Efficiency from a Desktop: In that regard, he's really extraordinary. He can get along with all kinds of people, whether he likes them or not, and can socialize with people in all kinds of areas to raise funds.

In addition, he's a very strong administrator. Whatever the problem, he makes a quick decision advantageous to the greatest number of people and then immediately sets about carrying it out. My desk is a mess, as you can see, because there are a lot of things I think about over and over and then feel I should still study some more. You can't cut corners with science. But that kind of perfectionism won't work if you're dealing with business that involves a lot people. Chancellor Tien and I are very different. His desk is neat and tidy when he leaves the office at the end of the day. [Laughs.]

Chang-lin Tien's appointment as university chancellor is a big encouragement for Asian Americans. It's an opportunity that American society has given us to excel and for Chang-lin Tien to display his talents.

I still feel that the best way to help Chinese Americans, though, is for him to do a good job in the future. The present is just a beginning, and shouldn't be viewed as the most important accomplishment. I don't agree with people who say that Chang-lin Tien's appointment as university president or Yuan T. Lee's winning the Nobel Prize "is an honor for the Chinese people." I think that sort of reaction still harbors an inferiority complex, like when people say, "Aren't Chinese people great?" if our women's basketball team wins--does that mean if they'd lost, we wouldn't be any good? We shouldn't judge the achievements of an entire people by the honor of a single individual.

I think that Chinese people are intelligent, like any other ethnic group, and that with effort some of us can achieve success. Chinese are a minority in the U.S. and have always had a hard time getting ahead, but with effort and hard work from everyone over the past several decades, our position in American society has steadily climbed. That Chang-lin Tien, with his Chinese background, has become a university president is very significant. It's related to his achievements as an individual and to the efforts and struggle of a lot of people.

Besides Being a Fireman: Chancellor Tien has a lot of challenges facing him in the future. As a university president, he'll have to act as the fireman for a lot of emergencies and spend a lot of time resolving conflicts and smoothing over everything from funding cuts to the murder of a student. Even more importantly, will he be able to realize his educational ideals as a university president and lead the school to a even higher position academically?

Today is only a beginning, but we have great hopes for him.

[Picture Caption]

"He's like something out of the Boy Scout handbook: 'happy, smiling, taking everything in stride,'" Nobel Prize winner Yuan T. Lee thinks this is one of the factors in his success.

For Dr. Tien, doing administrative work isn't question of personal interest. It represents a breakthrough for Asian Americans.

Warm and affectionate, Di-hwa Liu buys a Chinese-language newspaper and keeps her husband company at the office when he has to work late.

The first Asian American to heed a topnotch American university, Dr. Tien became a focus of media attention across the land.