Hsiao-Wuen Hon

Also known as 洪小文

Hsiao-Wuen Hon is a Taiwanese-American computer scientist and speech technology researcher who led Microsoft Research Asia in Beijing for 14 years. As a Carnegie Mellon doctoral student under Raj Reddy, he coauthored work on the Sphinx speech recognition system with Kai-Fu Lee, then led Apple's Chinese Dictation Kit before joining Microsoft Research in 1995. With Xuedong Huang and Alex Acero, he wrote the 2001 textbook Spoken Language Processing; he became managing director of Microsoft Research Asia in 2007 and chairman of Microsoft's Asia-Pacific R&D Group in 2014. He retired from Microsoft in 2024 and joined the Microsoft Research Emeriti in 2025. Today he sits on the boards of MediaTek and Ambarella and is a Vice-Chancellor Visiting Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Timeline

1985–1992

Sphinx at Carnegie Mellon

He earns a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering at National Taiwan University in 1985 and enters Carnegie Mellon in 1986 to study under Raj Reddy. In 1989, he coauthors "Recent Progress in the Sphinx Speech Recognition System" with Kai-Fu Lee and Mei-Yuh Hwang. He completes his PhD in 1992 with a thesis on the Vocind vocabulary-independent speech recognition system.
1992–1995

Apple's Chinese Dictation Kit

After his PhD in 1992, he joins Apple, where he leads research and development for the company's Chinese Dictation Kit. He moves to Microsoft Research as a senior researcher in 1995 and works on Microsoft's SAPI and speech engine technologies.
2001

The Spoken Language Processing textbook

In 2001, Prentice Hall publishes Spoken Language Processing: A Guide to Theory, Algorithm, and System Development, which he writes with Xuedong Huang and Alex Acero. The book serves as a graduate-level textbook in speech technology.
2004–2007

Deputy managing director in Beijing

Before 2004, he is a founding member and architect of Microsoft's Natural Interactive Services Division in Redmond, where he oversees the Microsoft Speech Server product. He joins Microsoft Research Asia in Beijing in 2004 as deputy managing director, responsible for research in Internet search, speech and natural language, systems, wireless and networking. From 2005 to 2007, he founds and manages the Microsoft Search Technology Center, which leads Bing development in Asia-Pacific.
2007–2021

Managing director of Microsoft Research Asia

He becomes managing director of Microsoft Research Asia in 2007, and Microsoft appoints him chairman of its Asia-Pacific R&D Group in 2014. In 2018, he marks the Beijing lab's 20th anniversary as managing director and corporate vice president. Lidong Zhou succeeds him as managing director in August 2021, after Hon's 14 years in the role, and Hon keeps responsibility for Microsoft's R&D strategy in Asia-Pacific.
2017

A Great Wall Friendship Award

The Beijing Municipal Government grants him a 2014–2016 Great Wall Friendship Award in 2017, the highest award for foreign experts working in Beijing. The award cites his contributions to science and technology research, talent cultivation, university cooperation and intelligent cities.
2024–2025

Microsoft Research Emeritus

He retires from Microsoft in 2024 after more than 28 years in leadership roles there. In 2025, Microsoft Research adds him to its Microsoft Research Emeriti, a title that honors researchers for lasting and notable contributions.
Since May 2025

Boards of MediaTek and Ambarella

He joins MediaTek's board as an independent director in May 2025, bringing expertise in artificial intelligence. He also sits on the Ambarella board, which he joins in 2017. An IEEE Fellow, he is an Emeritus Researcher at Microsoft Research and a Vice-Chancellor Visiting Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.