Joyce Yen Feng (MSW ’81, PhD ’88) has been awarded the Madhuri and Jagdish N. Sheth International Alumni Award for Exceptional Achievement. The award was established in 2000 to “recognize the accomplishments of distinguished international Illinois alumni who are highly accomplished in their profession, have made outstanding contributions to government, humanity, science, art, or human welfare, and exemplify the strength of their education at the university.”
Feng, whose work in areas of child welfare, ethical governance, national policy and visionary promotion and pioneering in social enterprise policy earned her the honorable title of the “Mother of Social Enterprise” in Taiwan, retired in 2022 from National Taiwan University. During her tenure, Feng dedicated herself to academic research.
Feng’s scholarly pursuits focused on child welfare and NPO development, research on Taiwan’s nonprofit sector, and “exploration of the value of social and organizational sustainability and its architecture for how a society organizes care and public trust for people who are most vulnerable”. One of Feng’s notable contributions was leading the planning and passage of Taiwan’s 2014 Social Enterprise Action Plan, “which integrated resources from nine ministries to build a social enterprise ecosystem in the country.”
Her career, scholarship, and public contributions have consistently enhanced lives and her professional journey is a real-world example of global citizenship.