The Center for American Studies finally gained a place of its own on the Academia Sinica campus when the new building (the present day IEAS Research Building) was inspected on September 5, 1972, and staff and existing library equipment took up occupancy on September 20. In May 1973, the Sino-U.S. Humanities and Social Sciences Cooperation Committee proposed that the Center become an institute formally affiliated with Academia Sinica in order to facilitate closer cooperation with other research institutes in the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, and to promote area studies in various fields of study. The proposition was approved by both the general meeting of Academia Sinica and the meeting of the Council of Academia Sinica in 1974, and then reported to the Presidential Office of the Republic of China. The new Institute was formally established on July 1, 1974 as the tenth full-fledged institute of Academia Sinica. Chen Chi-lu was appointed its first director. It is generally accepted that Dr. Chen contributed to the creation and foundation of the Institute of American Culture. While serving as the Director of the Center for American Studies, Dr. Chen organized “The First Regional American Studies Seminar of East Asia”, entitled, “Cultural and Diplomatic Relations between the United States and East Asia Countries after WWII”. Convened on July 2, 1973, the seminar was the first large-scale international conference on American Studies in Taiwan. It was well received and widely discussed in the local academic communities. Chu Yen assumed the second directorship of the Institute of American Culture on July 1, 1977. Always actively recruiting researchers and acting as a role model, Dr. Chu made tremendous contributions and laid a solid foundation for the future development of the Institute. When recruiting researchers or staff, Dr. Chu always stuck to his principle: “Capability is the only condition, and connections are to be disregarded;” an important principle that has been observed by all succeeding directors. On July 1, 1983, Sun Tung-hsun succeeded as the third director of the Institute of American Culture. Dr. Sun continued to recruit research members and expand the Institute. By the end of Dr. Sun’s two terms of service, the number of research members at the Institute had nearly doubled to 32. On July 1, 1989, after consulting with all research members and 2. The Institute of American Culture 1974-1991 Chien Shi-liang (second from the left) and Wang Shi-chieh (third from the left) at the groundbreaking for the Center for American Studies, September 15, 1971 (Provided by Wang Chiu-hwa) 50 Years and Beyond: The History and Prospects of the Institute of European and American Studies 5
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