Lin Chia-lung

Lin Chia-lung (; born 13 February 1964) is a Taiwanese academic and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) politician. He is the Secretary General to the President of Taiwan since 31 January 2023. He was elected mayor of Taichung City in November 2014 and took office on 25 December 2014. In the early 2000s he served in various capacities in the ROC Executive Yuan under DPP President Chen Shui-bian. Background Lin was born in Taipei City. After graduating from Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School, Lin Chia-lung attended National Taiwan University (NTU), where he received his BA (1986) and MA (1988) in political science. As a student representative at NTU, Lin was active in the NTU Society for the Study of Mainland China, and a participant in the "Love of Freedom" campus free speech movement. Lin played a key role in pushing for the direct election of the student council chairman by students, and was responsible for drafting the election plan proposed by students to the campus administration in 1984. Lin left Taiwan for the United States to attend Yale University on a Fulbright scholarship from 1991 through 1994. He received master's degrees in philosophy (1992) and political science (1993), as well as a PhD in political science (1998). Returning to Taiwan after graduating from Yale, Lin served on the faculty of the political science department at National Chung Cheng University as an assistant professor from 1999 through 2004. His research interests include the democratization of Taiwan, as well as the political and economic development of the People's Republic of China, and has written several books on the subjects. Lin is married to Liao Wan-ju.