Jackie Yi-Ru Ying

Jackie Yi-Ru Ying
Born1966 (age 57–58)
Taipei, Taiwan
EducationCooper Union (BEng)
Princeton University (MA, PhD)
Children1 daughter[3]
AwardsSingapore Women's Hall of Fame;
Mustafa Prize (2015);
Turkish Academy of Sciences (TÜBA) Academy Prize;[1]
Fellow AAAS (2015);[2]
Fellow NAI (2017);
Fellow NAE (2021);
King Faisal Prize (2023)
Scientific career
FieldsNanotechnology
InstitutionsMassachusetts Institute of Technology
Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology
Academic advisorsHerbert Gleiter

Jackie Yi-Ru Ying (born 1966) is a Taiwanese-born American nanotechnology scientist based in Singapore. She is the founding executive director of the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN).[3]

Early life and education

Ying was born in Taipei in 1966. She moved to Singapore with her family in 1973 as a child where she was a student at Rulang Primary School[4] and Raffles Girls' School. She then went to New York City, earning a B.Eng. degree, summa cum laude, from Cooper Union in 1987.[5] She then attended Princeton University, receiving her M.A. in 1988 and her Ph.D. in 1991, both in chemical engineering. She spent a year as a Humboldt Fellow at the Institute for New Materials in Saarbrücken and researched nanocrystalline materials with Herbert Gleiter.[6][7]

Career

Ying became a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1992. She was made a full professor in 2001; at 35 she was one of MIT's youngest full professors.[6]

Ying returned to Singapore in 2003 to serve as the first executive director of the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, a division of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).[5] Her research concerns the biomedical and catalytic applications of nanostructured systems and materials.

In 2005, Ying was the youngest member inducted into the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.[8]

In March 2018, Ying stepped down from her position as Executive Director at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology to lead her own lab, NanoBio lab.[9]

Since then, Ying has joined the Department of Bioengineering at King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM) as a professor.[10]

In 2021, Ying was elected as a member of the United States National Academy of Engineering.[8]

Honours and awards

During 2008, Ying was chosen by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers as an Engineer of the Modern Era.[3] Ying was elected to the Singapore Women's Hall of Fame in 2014.[11]

In December 2015, it was announced that she was one of the recipients of the inaugural 2015 Mustafa Prize awarded by the Mustafa Science and Technology Foundation. She was awarded the "Top Scientific Achievement" award for "her great scientific and technological contributions and achievements to the synthesis of well-designed advanced nanostructured materials and systems, nanostructured biomaterials and miniaturised biosystems for various interesting applications".[12] In 2016, she was elected to the Cooper Union Hall of Fame for her achievements.[13]

When the National Academy of Inventors gave Ying a fellowship in 2017, she was the first Singaporean to receive this honour.[3] In 2020, Ying received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Journal of Drug Targeting for "her many outstanding contributions in the fields of nanotechnology and nanomedicine including drug delivery and targeting."[14] In 2021, she was elected to the National Academy of Engineering.[15] She has served as the Editor in Chief of Nano Today, and is currently advising the journal as Editor Emeritus.[16] In 2023 she was awarded the King Faisal Prize.[17]

She is also a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum.[18]

Personal life

Ying is a practicing Muslim, having converted to the faith when she was 35,[19] the year when her daughter was born.[20]

References

  1. ^ "Prof. Jackie Ying Receives 2018 Turkish Academy of Sciences Prize > Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR)". a-star.edu.sg. 2018-12-28. Archived from the original on 2018-12-28. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
  2. ^ "IBN Executive Director Jackie Ying Elected AAAS Fellow". 30 November 2015.;
  3. ^ a b c d Teng, Amelia (13 December 2017). "Singapore-based scientist Jackie Ying clinches highest accolade for academic inventors". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2017-12-15.
  4. ^ "Jurong Heritage Trail" (PDF). National Heritage Board. p. 26.
  5. ^ a b "Jackie Yi-Ru Ying". Singapore Women's Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  6. ^ a b Spector, Myron (12 May 2014). "An interview with Jackie Yi-Ru Ying: the compleat multi-tasker". Biomedical Materials. 9 (3): 030401. Bibcode:2014BioMa...9c0401S. doi:10.1088/1748-6041/9/3/030401. PMID 24818688. S2CID 1170604.
  7. ^ "Jackie Yi Ru Ying, Editorial Board - Nano Energy". Elsevier. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  8. ^ a b Lee, Li Ying (2023-01-06). "A*Star researcher one of two women scientists to win prestigious international award". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
  9. ^ "Star scientists Jackie Ying, Birgitte Lane stepping down from key leadership roles at A*Star's research institutes". Straits Times. 15 Dec 2017. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  10. ^ "Jackie Yi-Ru Ying". King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
  11. ^ "THE HONOUREES". Singapore Women's Hall of Fame. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  12. ^ "A*STAR's IBN Executive Director wins top scientific achievement award". Channel NewsAsia. 24 Dec 2015. Archived from the original on 2016-06-24. Retrieved 2016-06-03.
  13. ^ Lynch, Mary (9 May 2016). "ALUMNI PROFILE: JACKIE YING, CHE'87, Engineer, Hall of Fame". Cooper Union Alumni Association. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  14. ^ Akhtar, Saghir (July 28, 2020). "Editorial: In honour of Professor Jackie Ying, recipient of the Journal of Drug Targeting's Lifetime Achievement Award for 2020". Journal of Drug Targeting. 28 (7–8): 681–682. doi:10.1080/1061186X.2020.1798585. PMID 32686541. S2CID 220655129.
  15. ^ "Dr. Jackie Y. Ying". National Academy of Engineering. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  16. ^ "Nano Today - Editorial Board". Elsevier. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  17. ^ King Faisal Prize 2023
  18. ^ "Dr. Jackie Y. Ying". NAE Website. Retrieved 2024-06-18.
  19. ^ Boh, Samantha (2015-12-24). "Singapore-based scientist wins top science and technology award of Islamic world". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  20. ^ "Professor Jackie Ying is a nanobiotechnology scientist on a tireless mission to improve lives". Her World Singapore. 2023-10-06. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
  • Biography at Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, Agency for Science, Technology and Research