PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Ming-Syan Chen

Also known as 陳銘憲

Ming-Syan Chen is a database and data mining researcher at National Taiwan University whose 2026 papers cover vision transformers, long-context language-model inference and retrieval-augmented generation. He earned a doctorate in computer, information and control engineering at the University of Michigan in 1988, then worked until 1996 as a research staff member at IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center, where IBM Corporate gave him an Outstanding Innovation Award in 1994. After joining NTU's Department of Electrical Engineering in 1996, he became an IEEE Fellow in 2004 and an ACM Fellow in 2006 for contributions to query processing and data mining, headed the Institute for Information Industry from 2007 to 2008, and directed Academia Sinica's Research Center of Information Technology Innovation from 2008 to 2015. He became dean of NTU's College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in 2015 and served as the university's Executive Vice President from 2019 to 2023; he is a Chair Professor of Electrical Engineering there.

Born
1959
Works
509
Citations
16,046
h-index
57
Badges

Years link to their sources. Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1985–1988

    Degrees at Michigan

    He holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from National Taiwan University. He earns a master's degree in 1985 and a doctorate in 1988 in computer, information and control engineering at the University of Michigan.

  2. 1988–1996

    Research staff at IBM Watson

    He is a research staff member at IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York, from 1988 to 1996. IBM Corporate gives him its Outstanding Innovation Award in 1994 for his contribution to a major database product. In 1995, he coauthors a paper on mining association rules whose hash-based algorithm generates orders of magnitude fewer candidate 2-itemsets than earlier methods.

  3. 1996–2006

    Professor at National Taiwan University

    He joins the Department of Electrical Engineering at National Taiwan University as an associate professor in 1996 and becomes a professor in 1997. From 2003 to 2006, he directs its Graduate Institute of Communication Engineering.

  4. 2004–2006

    IEEE and ACM Fellowships

    He becomes an IEEE Fellow in 2004. In 2006, ACM elects him a Fellow for contributions to query processing and data mining, and he is the first NTU professor to receive the honor.

  5. 2007–2015

    President of III, director of CITI

    He is President and CEO of the Institute for Information Industry, one of the largest information technology organizations in Taiwan, from 2007 to 2008. From 2008 to 2015, he is a Distinguished Research Fellow and Director of the Research Center of Information Technology Innovation (CITI) at Academia Sinica.

  6. 2015

    Dean of NTU's EECS college

    He becomes dean of National Taiwan University's College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in 2015.

  7. 2019–2023

    Executive Vice President of NTU

    In January 2019, the Ministry of Education awards him a National Chair Professorship for the second time. He serves as Executive Vice President of National Taiwan University from 2019 to 2023.

  8. As of October 2026

    Chair professor at NTU

    He is Chair Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at National Taiwan University and gives a distinguished lecture at Asia University in November 2025 on the impact of new AI. He coauthors 2026 papers on early-exit vision transformers, long-context LLM inference and retrieval-augmented generation.

Career

  1. Since 1996National Taiwan UniversityAssociate Professor, Professor
  2. 2008–2015Academia SinicaDistinguished Research Fellow and Director
  3. 2007–2008Institute for Information IndustryPresident and CEO
  4. 2004–2007Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
  5. 2003–2008National Taiwan University of Science and Technology
  6. 1989–1996IBM
  7. 1988–1996IBM ResearchResearch Staff Member

Education

  1. 1988University of MichiganMaster's degree and doctorate
  2. National Taiwan UniversityBachelor's degree

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Most-cited works

  1. Data mining: an overview from a database perspective1996 · IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering · 2,237 citationsWith Jiawei Han and Philip S. Yu
  2. An effective hash-based algorithm for mining association rules1995 · ACM-SIGMOD International Conference on Management of Data · 1,416 citationsWith Philip S. Yu
  3. Efficient data mining for path traversal patterns1998 · IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering · 541 citationsWith Philip S. Yu
  4. Using a hash-based method with transaction trimming for mining association rules1997 · IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering · 440 citationsWith Philip S. Yu
  5. Data mining for path traversal patterns in a web environment2002 · IEEE International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems (ICDCS) · 327 citationsWith Philip S. Yu

From OpenAlex, as of 21 October 2026.

  1. 84% of people shaping AI with recorded undergraduate and doctoral schools changed institutions for their doctorateIncludes National Taiwan University. 84% of people shaping AI with recorded undergraduate and doctoral schools changed institutions for their doctorate. Across 2,116 people with both an undergraduate degree and a doctorate recorded, we trace which undergraduate schools feed which doctoral programs, how often students stay at the same school, and how paths differ by birth-country region.
  2. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes National Taiwan University. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  3. The United States employs an estimated 48% of people shaping AIIncludes National Taiwan University. We estimate where the people shaping AI work today, how universities, companies and research institutes split across countries, and how country shares have changed since the 1960s.
  4. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes National Taiwan University. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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  1. Chen, Ming-Syan Homepage - Vita (Academia Sinica) homepage.iis.sinica.edu.tw. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. 陳銘憲的簡傳 - Biography of Ming-Syan Chen ee.ntu.edu.tw. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. Ming-Syan Chen's Homepage arbor.ee.ntu.edu.tw. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. An Effective Hash-Based Algorithm for Mining Association Rules scholars.lib.ntu.edu.tw. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. MING-SYAN CHEN - NTU Scholars scholars.lib.ntu.edu.tw. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. National Taiwan University - Spotlight 070102 ntuweb.cloud.ntu.edu.tw. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. NTU Faculty Awarded National Chair Professorships and Academic Awards ntuweb.cloud.ntu.edu.tw. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. NTU News Letter, 2019 August ntubeats.ntu.edu.tw. Checked 20 October 2026.
  9. Distinguished Lecture Series: Prof. Ming-Syan Chen, More than a Tool - Illuminating the Impact of New AI sec.asia.edu.tw. Checked 20 October 2026.