Hsiao-Wuen Hon

Hsiao-Wuen Hon (; born: May 31, 1963) is a Taiwanese-American computer scientist and researcher in speech technology, and coauthor of the book Spoken Language Processing. He is Corporate Vice President of Microsoft and Chairman of Microsoft's Asia-Pacific R&D Group.

Life Hon is a U.S. citizen born in Taiwan. Hon represented Taiwan in the International Mathematics Olympiad in high school. He received his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from National Taiwan University in 1985. In 1986, he entered Carnegie Mellon University to study under professor Raj Reddy and earned a Ph.D. in computer science.

Career After earning his PhD in 1992, Hon joined Apple, where he led research and development for the company's Chinese Dictation Kit. In 1995, he joined Microsoft as a senior researcher in their SAPI and speech engine technologies.

Hon was involved in the creation of Microsoft Research Asia in Beijing, the firm's first R&D operation in China. He was transferred to Microsoft's Seattle headquarters in 1998, promoted to Microsoft Voice Products Chief Technology Architect, then returned to Beijing in 2004 as Deputy Managing Director of Microsoft Research Asia. Hon founded and managed Microsoft Search Technology Center from 2005 to 2007 and led development of Microsoft's Bing search product in Asia-Pacific. He was named managing director in 2007. In 2014, Hon was appointed Chairman of Microsoft Asia-Pacific R&D Group and in October 2015, he became Senior Vice President of Microsoft Corporation.

Hon has served on the Ambarella board of directors since 2017. He is a faculty member of the Schwarzman Scholars program and an adjunct professor with the Chinese University of Hong Kong's Department of Systems Engineering and Engineering Management.

Selected publications

Awards and honors He is an IEEE fellow and Microsoft Distinguished Scientist He was granted the Great Wall Friendship Award by the Beijing Municipal Government