Shirley Kuo

Kuo Wang-jung (Chinese: 郭婉容; pinyin: Guo Wǎnróng; born 25 January 1930), also known by her English name Shirley Kuo, is a Taiwanese economist.

Kuo Wang-jung
郭婉容
Minister of Finance
In office 22 July 1988 – 1 June 1990
Preceded by	Robert Chien
Succeeded by	Wang Chien-shien
Minister of Council for Economic Planning and Development
In office 1 June 1990 – 27 February 1993
Preceded by	Fredrick Chien
Succeeded by	Vincent Siew
Personal details
Born	(1930-01-25) 25 January 1930 (age 95) Tainan Prefecture, Taiwan, Empire of Japan
Nationality	Empire of Japan (1930–1945) Republic of China (since 1945)
Political party	Kuomintang
Spouse(s)	Liu Ching-jui ​ ​ (m. 1949; died 1961)​ Ni Wenya ​ ​ (m. 1968; died 2006)​
Children	Christina Liu
Education	National Taiwan University (BS) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MS) Kobe University (PhD)

Education

After graduating from National Tainan Girls' Senior High School, Kuo studied economics as an undergraduate at National Taiwan University and received her bachelor's degree in 1952. She then completed graduate studies in the United States, earning a Master of Science (M.S.) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1960, and completed doctoral studies in Japan at Kobe University, where she earned her Ph.D. in economics in 1984.^[1][2]

Career

Upon her appointment to the Ministry of Finance, Kuo became the first female cabinet minister in the history of the Republic of China.^[1] She led the ministry from 1988 to 1990, before being named the head minister of the Council for Economic Planning and Development, a position she held until 1993.

She was married to Ni Wen-ya until his death in 2006. A daughter from her first marriage, Christina Liu, was finance minister in 2012.^[3][4] Peng Ming-min is her first cousin.^[5][6]