Robert Lai

Robert Yih-shyong Lai (July 24, 1940 – April 30, 2018) was a Taiwanese-American engineer who specialized in fluid mechanics.

After completing his post-doctoral work at SUNY Buffalo in 1969, Lai began his decade long teaching career at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in 1970. In 1975, Lai became involved in the formation of the North American Taiwanese Professors Association (NATPA)—later becoming vice president and managing publications and editing—and by 1980 he had left his teaching post at the University of Wisconsin to pursue a career at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL). While continuing his work at NATPA, Lai took on the role as senior engineer at TRW Inc.

Lai would eventually return to Washington, D.C. as the chairman of the Global Taiwan Institute (GTI) from 2016 until his death in 2018.

Early life Lai grew up in the port city of Keelung, Taiwan.

Education In March 1965, Lai began attending Northwestern University.

Leaving his position in 2007 after the conclusion of his first three-year term, Lai was invited by President Wu Jianguo of Datong University to become an adjunct professor.

Return to the United States In 2016, Lai would eventually return the United States, where he worked at GTI until 2018.

Political involvement In 1986, Lai met with then secretary-general of the Kuomintang Ma Shuli (having previously been blacklisted from Taiwan, due to being a pro-democracy political dissident).