Dr Eugene Chien received his B.Sc in mechanical engineering from National Taiwan University and a Ph.D. in aeronautics and astronautics from New York University. He became the Dean of the College of Engineering in Tamkang University in 1978. Dr Chien was elected twice as a legislator in Taipei City. In 1987 he became the first Minister of the Environmental Protection Administration under Chiang Ching-kuo’s presidency. In 1991, during Lee Teng-hui’s presidency, he was appointed as the Minister of Transportation and Communications, Representative of Taipei Representative Office in the UK, and Senior Advisor of National Security Council. During President Chen Shui-bian’s time, he served as the Deputy Secretary General of the Office of the President and subsequently as the Foreign Minister. In 2007, Dr Chien founded the Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy (TAISE), raising public awareness on climate change.