Academic Positions and Awards
Dr. Kylie Hsu is President's Distinguished Professor Emerita of Chinese and Linguistics and the former Director of the Chinese Studies Center at California State University, Los Angeles. She is a recipient of the Distinguished Woman Award, the Outstanding Professor Award, and the most prestigious President’s Distinguished Professor (PDP) Award based on her teaching, research, scholarship, and academic and community service and leadership. Notably, she was the first Asian American to receive the PDP Award.
Educational Background and Honors
Dr. Hsu earned her B.A. in Linguistics (summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa) from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; her M.A. in Linguistics with Distinction from California State University, Northridge; and her Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics (Presidential Fellow of the University of California System and Graduate Fellow of the State of California) from the University of California, Los Angeles. She is included in numerous renowned biographical publications of accomplished scholars.
Professional Achievements
Dr. Hsu's research interests include the contemporary usage of language, the historical development of language, and the sociocultural aspect of language learning. Internationally acclaimed as an eminent scholar in linguistics and language pedagogy, she has published various research monographs and grammar books and well over a hundred journal articles, reviews, translations, and creative works. She has also delivered keynote addresses at national and international conferences and has held prominent posts in professional societies and academic governance.
Instructional Activities
Dr. Hsu has taught courses such as Chinese language, linguistics, translation, civilization, and culture; comparative analysis of Chinese and English grammatical structures; language in Chinese society; and language diversity in urban America. She has also developed online learning materials sponsored by intramural and extramural grants.
One of her former students, Dr. Steven Pan, praised her for her remarkable teaching and mentoring as follows: “Dr. Hsu is the kindest, most helpful professor I have ever had the privilege to know—in my entire life. . . . Overall, having known Dr. Hsu over the years, I have come to wish that all professors are as willing to listen to their students, as generous with their advice and encouragement, as calm and friendly in their temperament, and as smart and capable as she has been. Dr. Hsu, you have been an inspiration for us all, a marvelous human being, and an incredible teacher. The world has been a better place with you as part of it. I thank you for your service from the bottom of my heart.” Many other students have also benefited from her kindness through the Kylie Hsu Endowed Scholarship in Linguistics and Modern Languages that she had established.