Mrs. Yin Min-kuan Lin, Abraham Chu and Mr. Yin Ching-Long.

The Study in Southern California Scholarship Program (南加州留學獎學金) was jointly established by the Yin Chin Foundation of USA (美國殷勤文教公益基金會) and the STUF United Fund (世台聯合基金會) to provide financial assistance to encourage more graduate students from Taiwan to undertake an advanced degree in colleges and universities in the Southern California area, and thereby elevate Taiwan's global competitiveness. The core values of the STUF United Fund are “Share, Trust, United, and Family”, and its aim is to create sustainable changes through connecting and working with government departments, NGOs and NPOs, UN agencies, and the corporate sector. It has engaged in charity work in 21 countries, in five continents.

The Yin Chin Foundation of USA was founded by Mr. C.L. Yin (殷清隆) in 2009, and his wife, Mrs. Min-kuan Lin Yin (殷林敏寬) is its president. The Foundation focuses on promoting public welfare and giving back to the society. It hopes to gather the power of love from all over the world and to integrate and share resources efficiently. The Yin family does its utmost to assist disaster relief, culture and education, environmental protection, public health and other public welfare activities around the world, so that the family’s efforts and philanthropic works can have an impact.

The Yin Chin Foundation has worked with the Education Division of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles (TECO-LA) since the inception of the Study in Southern California Scholarship Program in 2016 and it awards scholarships to five or six graduate students from Taiwan each year on the basis of their academic achievements, service to the community, and global perspectives.

The Yins have already awarded $230,000 in scholarships to 23 graduate students from Taiwan through the program. “This year we had another overwhelming response with many well-deserving applicants,” said Mrs. Min-kuan Lin Yin when interviewed by the press. “These young scholars are truly dedicated to their research and learning in the US. We are honored to award these six individuals with scholarships for all their dedication and passion to STEM research.”

The award ceremony took place on June 20. Abraham Chu, Director General of the TECO-LA office was invited to attend this important event for to honor six outstanding PhD students from Taiwan with a Study in Southern California Scholarship. The 2019 scholarship winners are: Mr. Chang Chia-Feng, studying physics at UC Riverside; Ms. Chen Hung-Yu, studying electrical engineering at USC; Mr. Chen Po-Chun, studying electrical engineering at UC San Diego; Ms. Hsiao Yu-Ching, studying mechanical engineering at UC Los Angeles; Ms. Wang Yan-Ting, studying material science at UC Riverside; and Mr. Yang Yen-Yu, studying chemistry at UC Riverside. It’s excellent to see an equal number of young women from Taiwan studying in fields that were formerly dominated by young men.

Mrs. Yin Min-kuan Lin, president the Yin Chin Foundation; Abraham Chu, Director General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles (TECO-LA); and Mr. Yin Ching-Long, founder of the Yin Chin Foundation.

Mr. and Mrs. C.L. Lin and Director General Abraham Chu, with the scholarship recipients and other attendees at the 2019 award ceremony.