Hsiao-Wuen Hon (Chinese: 洪小文; born: May 31, 1963) is a Taiwanese-American

computer scientist A computer scientist is a scientist who specializes in the academic study of computer science. Computer scientists typically work on the theoretical side of computation. Although computer scientists can also focus their work and research on ...

and researcher in

speech technology Speech technology relates to the technologies designed to duplicate and respond to the human voice. They have many uses. These include aid to the voice-disabled, the hearing-disabled, and the blind, along with communication with computers without a ...

, and coauthor of the book ''Spoken Language Processing''. He is Corporate Vice President of

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

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 The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is a mathematical olympiad for pre-university students, and is the oldest of the International Science Olympiads. It is widely regarded as the most prestigious mathematical competition in the world ...

in high school. He received his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from

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 ...

in 1985. In 1986, he entered

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

to study under professor

Raj Reddy Dabbala Rajagopal "Raj" Reddy (born 13 June 1937) is an Indian-American computer scientist and a winner of the Turing Award. He is one of the early pioneers of artificial intelligence and has served on the faculty of Stanford and Carnegie Mel ...

, and later received a PhD in

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

Career

After earning his PhD in 1992, Hon joined

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

, 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 Bing most often refers to: * Bing Crosby (1903–1977), American singer * Microsoft Bing, a web search engine Bing may also refer to: Food and drink * Bing (bread), a Chinese flatbread * Bing (soft drink), a UK brand * Bing cherry, a varie ...

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 ''Spondias dulcis'' ( syn. ''Spondias cytherea''), known commonly as Polynesian plum or Tahiti apple, is a tropical fruit tree native to Melanesia, with edible fruit containing a fibrous pit. The tree was spread to neighboring regions as ca ...

board of directors since 2017. He is a faculty member of the

Schwarzman Scholars Schwarzman Scholars (), founded by American financier and philanthropist Stephen A. Schwarzman, is a one-year fully-funded master's degree leadership program at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. The program selects 100–200 scholars per ye ...

program and an

adjunct professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, but the term is gen ...

with the

Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public university, public research university in Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong. Established in 1963 as a federation of three university college, collegesChung Chi College, New Asia Coll ...

's Department of Systems Engineering and Engineering Management.

Selected publications

* * * * * * * * *

Awards and honors

* He is an

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE ...

fellow and Microsoft Distinguished Scientist * He was granted the Great Wall Friendship Award by the Beijing Municipal Government

References

External links