Dean Tsu-Jae King Liu (Photo by Noah Berger)

Tsu-Jae King Liu: Berkeley Engineering’s first female dean

For decades, UC Berkeley’s College of Engineering has employed female faculty, but in 2018 it welcomed its first female dean, Tsu-Jae King Liu. At the time of her appointment, only 60 of the 368 engineering colleges and schools in the United States had female deans, according to the American Society for Engineering Education. Liu, the college’s 13th dean, is already bolstering efforts to increase diversity and to foster inclusion and respect of women and members of underrepresented minority groups in engineering. The college has an enrollment of more than 5,600 undergraduate and graduate students and consistently ranks among the nation’s top three engineering schools and colleges, public or private.

Liu is known for her innovations in semiconductor devices and technology, her research presently focuses on nanometer-scale logic and memory devices, advanced materials, process technology and devices for energy-efficient electronics. She has authored or co-authored more than 500 publications and holds 95 patents in the field of integrated-circuit devices and technologies.

Among the most notable research achievements in Liu’s portfolio is her collaboration in the development of an advanced fin-shaped field-effect transistor design, dubbed “FinFET,” that can be scaled down in physical dimensions to below 25 nanometers. Today, FinFETs are used in all leading-edge microprocessor chips, which comprise over 10 billion transistors per square centimeter. Liu’s industrial experience includes a technology start-up she co-founded called Progressant Technologies, which was acquired by Synopsys, Inc.

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