Evans S.W. Tu, President and CEO of Synnex Technology International Corporation, was named an ITRI Laureate on October 27 for his leading innovative contributions and accomplishments in the information and communications technology (ICT) industry. 

Evans S.W. Tu invested in the ICT industry in 1976, and founded Synnex Technology International Corporation in 1988. For the past 40 years, he has invested in Taiwan’s electronics technology industry. Synnex’s growth during the microprocessor boom of the late 20th century was led by the outstanding management of Evans S.W. Tu. He has since been hailed as one of the “Top Ten Key Figures in the Developmental History of the Information Industry in Taiwan," and has been recognized by the Harvard Business Review as one of the top ten Taiwanese CEOs three consecutive times. Moreover, Evans S.W. Tu was the first ITRI Laureate selected owing to outstanding contributions to the ICT and semiconductor channel distribution. 

Founded in 1973, the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) has played a key role in promoting Taiwan’s ICT and semiconductor industry to become a global hub for nearly 50 years, and is one of the world-leading applied technology research institute. In order to promote the development of technology, the ITRI has established a lifetime honorary title, “ITRI Laureate”. This title commends those people who have produced outstanding achievements in the areas of industry management, technological research and development, technological innovation, and those who have made outstanding contributions to the development of the nation’s industries and the improvement of the people's well-being. The annual ITRI laureate meeting attended by newly or previously named laureates such as Morris Chang, is also a think-tank whose opinions have considerable influence on the direction of government and industry policy.

The seven new laureates for this year include TSMC Chairman Mark Liu, TSMC CEO C.C. Wei, former president of Academia Sinica Wong Chi-huey, former superintendent of National Taiwan University Hospital and NTU emeritus professor Lee Yuan-Teh, the William H. Gates professor of computer science at Harvard University Kung Hsiang-tsung, Wistron Chairman Simon Lin and President and CEO of Synnex Technology International Corporation Evans S.W. Tu. They are pioneering figures in the semiconductor, ICT, biotechnology and medical, and artificial intelligence (AI) industries; and will no doubt shape future trends for the next generation.