台美人的榮耀 ( Pride of Taiwanese Americans) : 1,高民環博士

圖與文蔡山慶

高民環捐款一千七百五十萬，回饋母校田納西大學

高民環博士是Garmin公司的董事長與執行長。該公司總部座落在堪薩斯市的近郊，在國內、外擁有二千六百名員工。高博士捐贈的一千七百五十萬是諾城田納西大學有史以來最大的一筆私人捐款，其中一千兩百五十萬加上州政府的配合款二千五百萬，一共是三千七百五十萬，作爲建館費用，將建造一棟十五萬平方呎的大樓。剩下的五百萬捐款將與田大校友會的五百萬配合款合倂，作爲提升教學硏究計劃的經費。新建的電機、電腦大樓將命名爲Min Kao大樓，用來表彰他對母校未來發展的奉獻。

高民環出生在台灣竹山，台大電機系畢業後到諾城田納西大學(UTK)深造，受業於來自台灣的洪箴教授門下，先後完成了碩士、博士學位，於一九七七年離校高就，任職於Allied Signal等高科技公司，他領先硏發了第一部FAA核准的全球定位系統(GPS)導航器，也結識了同事資深工程師Gary Burrell，兩人於1989年合力創辦Garmin公司，以兩人名字的前三個字母拼綴爲公司名字，象徵著兩人的善意與友情。

Garmin公司製造高民環專精的GPS導航產品，顧客範圍廣泛，從水面的遊樂船艇上達航空工業。十四年來，公司由國內擴展到台灣和英國，賣出了一千萬部的器材，創造了 Garmin的輝煌業績，高民環也晉身列入了Forbe’s (富比士)美國四百大富豪的排行榜。

美國有許多成功的校友或企業家，捐款回饋母校或企業所在地的社區。我在Wisconsin唸書時，第一次聽說有一位地質系的校友，到中東控掘石油賺了大錢，贈送一棟新大樓給母系，我心中很感動。最近，從母校寄來的Our Wisconsin刊物，知道有人捐了一筆大錢，要用四千萬擴建翻修古老的教育學院。就在Atlanta本地，且不說有名的“Coca-cola大學”的建築物，最近Home Depot創辦人之一的Bernie Marcus捐贈二億建造了一座大水族館，藉以帶動亞特蘭大市區的進一步發展。這次高民環大力回饋母校的壯舉，堅實有力地表現出台裔美國公民急公好義的奉獻精神，可以和其他族裔媲美。

Alma Mater Taiwanese Min Kao donates $17,500,000 to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville

Picture and Article by S.C. Tsai

Translated by Brandon Chang

Dr. Min Kao is the Chairman of the Board and CEO of Garmin Corporation. The company’s headquarters is located in the suburban area of Kansas City, and contains 2,600 domestic and overseas employees. The 17.5 million dollars contributed by Dr. Kao is the biggest contribution from a individual person to the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. 12.5 million dollars of that contribution, and the state government matching fund of 25 million, totaling 37.5 million, is to be used to build a 150,000 sq. ft. building. The remaining 5 million dollars will be combined with the UTK alumni association’s 5 million dollar matching fund and will be used to improve teaching and research projects. The new electrical and computer engineering building is to be named the Min Kao Building to honor his contribution to his alma mater’s future development.

Min Kao was born in Tsu-san, Taiwan. He went to UTK after he graduated from the Electrical Engineering department at the National Taiwan University. He completed his Master after graduated from UTK, and Ph.D. under Professor Tsien Hung. He left school to work for Allied Signals and other hi-tech companies in 1977. He pioneered the development of the first FAA approved Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. He and his colleague, senior engineer Gary Burrell started Garmin in 1989. The company’s name is the combination of the first three letters of the founders’ first names, which symbolizes their goodwill and friendship.

Garmin Corporation produces Min Kao’s specialty, the GPS receiver. Garmin’s customers use Garmin products for everything from surface vessels to aeronautics. For 14 years, the company has expanded to Taiwan and the United Kingdom, and has sold 10 million receivers, giving Garmin outstanding business. Min Kao is currently listed by Forbes as one of the 400 richest persons in America.

There are many successful alumni and industrialists in America who donate money to their alma maters or the local community. When I was studying in Wisconsin, I heard that a Geology department alumnus drilled for and found oil in the Middle East then donated money for a new Geology building. And, I was moved. Recently, the Alma Mater publication，“Our Wisconsin,^ said that it will renovate and expand the old education college. In Atlanta, there is the Coca-Cola University building, and the founder of Home Depot, Bernie Marcus, donated $200 million to build a grand aquarium in order to promote Atlanta’s development.

Min Kao’s commendable act of contributing back to his Alma Mater shows that the Taiwanese American philanthropic spirit is not second to the generosity of people of other ethnicities.