Andrew Chen

Andy Chen is a Founding Advisory Member of the Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures

Family has always been the biggest part of my life and the greatest source of inspiration. I am happily married with a beautiful wife and two young, lovely children, living in Taipei so we can be close to my parents. Bringing two new lives into this world and taking care of aging and ill parents have changed me in various ways to re-examine my own destiny.

As a spiritual person interested in reading sociology, Chinese and Indian philosophies, and various religious beliefs, especially ancient Buddhism, seeking the meaning and purpose of life is important to me. Now that I’ve moved away from previous fields of semiconductor and wireless technologies, I’ve discovered new meaning in work related to life science technologies in biotech and medtech, such as new early stage in-vitro diagnostics and devices and regeneration cell therapies.

Being a participant in the high-tech boom of Silicon Valley, Taiwan, and China,
I have become passionate about social change in this era of exponential growth, technological advancement, and information explosion. Human beings and society should seek to return to the roots of humanity and understanding of life. With industrial revolution 4.0 on the horizon, I am a true believer in social entrepreneurship and new, micro-local economy for a better future. Humans are at their best while creating, instead of performing routine mundane tasks. Humans should work for meaning and values of society, not simply to put food on the table.

As I am seeking my own meaning and values at a much older age, I prefer for my children to have this opportunity much younger. My two young children are now in a Montessori elementary group homeschooling program in Taipei. I am a proponent of progressive education, such as Montessori, which respects the natural progression of human development, values individuality, and cultivates curiosity in every person. Human beings are innately life-long, self-learners, who pursue their own life meaning for greater fulfillment and enlightenment.

However, progressive education should not only be available to the few who can afford it. Promoting Montessori in the public sector is an effort of great interest to me and my wife. It’s not the content or materials in education that need to be changed. Rather, it is the adults’ and teachers’ viewpoints and philosophy that needs to be realigned with the true meaning of education – to assist every human being to find his/her own purpose of life.