Dr Sheng Ching-lai or Sheng Qinglai (July 20, 1919 June 23, 2018) was a Chinese-born Taiwanese electrical engineer, computer scientist, and philosopher. He served at the president of the

National Chiao Tung University National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) was a public research university in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Established in 1896 as Nanyang Public School by an imperial edict of the Guangxu Emperor, it was one of China's leading universities. After the Chinese ...

from 1972 to 1978.

Career

In 1941, Sheng graduated from the

in Shanghai with a B.Sc. degree in mechanical engineering. From 1941 to 1945, he worked as a civil servant in the province of

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

, where the wartime capital

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

was situated. After the war he studied at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. He earned a doctorate from the university in 1948. Through high career he taught at the

National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; zh, t=國立臺灣大學, poj=Kok-li̍p Tâi-oân Tāi-ha̍k, p=, s=) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. Founded in 1928 during Taiwan under J ...

, the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

, the

University of Windsor The University of Windsor (UWindsor, U of W, or UWin) is a public university, public research university in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's southernmost university. It has approximately 17,500 students. The university was incorporated by ...

, and the

Tamkang University Tamkang University (TKU; ) is a private university in Tamsui District, New Taipei City, Taiwan. It was founded in 1950 as a junior college of English. Today it is a comprehensive university with 11 colleges that serves nearly 25,000 students ...

. He also served as the dean of the National Chiao Tung University College of Engineering. He also served as the president of the university from 1972 to 1978, where he planned the expansion of the campus. Sheng wrote extensively on

utilitarianism In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for the affected individuals. In other words, utilitarian ideas encourage actions that lead to the ...

, and developed a "unified utilitarian theory", described as "a decision-theoretical model of value that approximates the moral mathematics of

Jeremy Bentham Jeremy Bentham (; 4 February Dual dating, 1747/8 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.

5 February 1748 Old Style and New Style dates, N.S. 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...

– 6 June 1832) was an English philosopher, jurist, and social reformer regarded as the founder of mo ...

." Sheng died on June 23, 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheng, Ching-lai 1919 births 2018 deaths Academic staff of Tamkang University National Chiao Tung University alumni Academic staff of the National Chiao Tung University Utilitarians Chinese expatriates in the United Kingdom Chinese emigrants to Taiwan