James C. Liao, President of Academia Sinica, Taiwan, is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, and an academician of Academia Sinica. He previously worked at Eastman Kodak, Texas A&M University, and the University of California, Los Angeles, and is a pioneer in metabolic engineering and synthetic biology. He received numerous international awards, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award, the White House “Champion of Change” for innovations in renewable energy, the Italian ENI Renewable Energy Prize, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences Award for the Industrial Application of Science, and the Israeli Samson-Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation in Alternative Energy and Smart Mobility for Transportation. His research has focused on metabolism, including its biochemistry, regulation, and redesign. Currently, his projects include design and engineering biochemical pathways for CO2 fixation and production of fuels and chemicals.