Li Yih-yuan ( Chinese: 李亦園; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lí E̍k-oân; 20 August 1931 – 18 April 2017) was a Taiwanese anthropologist.

A native of Quanzhou, Fujian, born in 1931, Li moved to Taiwan in 1948 and graduated from National Taiwan University in 1953. ^{[1] [2]} Two years later, he began working at Academia Sinica. ^{[1] [2]} In 1960, Li earned his master's degree from Harvard University. ^{[1] [2]} He was elected to membership within Academia Sinica in 1984. ^{[1] [2]} That same year, he founded the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at National Tsing Hua University, ^{[1] [2]} serving as dean of the college until 1990. ^{[1] [3]} Li remained on the faculty until 1999, ^[1] a year after he had retired from Academia Sinica. ^[2] He later taught at National Taiwan University as an adjunct professor. ^[4] Li was founding president of the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation from 1989 to 2001, when he assumed the foundation chairmanship, yielding the latter position in 2010. ^{[1] [3]}

In later life, Li was diagnosed with heart disease. ^[2] He fell ill with pneumonia in 2017, and died on 18 April that year, aged 85, while seeking treatment at the Taipei Medical University Hospital. ^{[1] [3]} The Academia Sinica held a memorial service for Li in September 2017. ^[5] Subsequently, in November 2018, the Academia Sinica invited P. Steven Sangren to give the inaugural Li Yih-yuan Memorial Lecture. ^[6]

Li Yih-yuan Memorial Lecturers

• P. Steven Sangren (2018) ^[6]
• John Comaroff (2019) ^[7]

References