George Yang

An architect of Taiwan's rise to technology powerhouse, Dr. George Yang's contribution to Taiwan's development began in the 1970's when he moved to the upper echelons of Taiwan's development agencies.
In 1978, Dr. Yang joined the cabinet-level Council for Economic Planning and Development where he was responsible for the development of the ROC's first Ten-year Electronics and Information Industries Development Plan (1980-1989) which paved the way for the development of Taiwan's IT and IC industries.
Dr. Yang assumed the position of deputy director of Taiwan's answer to Silicon Valley - the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park - in 1984.
Through the strategic formulation of the second Ten-Year Development Plan for Science-based Industrial Parks on Taiwan (1986-1995), he created the geographic cradle for high-tech development in Taiwan.
In 1986, Dr. Yang took over the helm as Director General of the Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) and re-vamped Taiwan's industrial structure.
Under his leadership, the IDB became instrumental in the upgrading of Taiwan's manufacturing industry, encouraging higher levels of R&D by steering Taiwan manufacturers toward a high -technology, high value-added orientation.
Dr. Yang was named Administrative Vice Minister in 1992 and Senior Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economic Affairs in 1993.
In June 1996, he was further promoted to the position of Minister of State and Convener of the Science and Technology Advisory Group.
In this capacity, Dr. Yang actively pushed for the realization of the National Information Infrastructure (NII) initiative and the growth of the biotechnology industry on Taiwan.
His advocacy of these two global trends proved strategic in further expediting the development of the high-tech industries.
Dr. Yang received his Ph.D.
and M.S.
degrees in Electrical Engineering from Northwestern University and a B.S.E.E.
degree from National Taiwan University.