Academician Tze-Leung Lai passed away in the United States on May 21, 2023. He was 78 years old.

Dr. Lai was an internationally renowned figure specializing in applied mathematics and statistical applications to biomedical science and financial economics. Dr. Lai obtained his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1971, where he taught and became Higgins Professor of Mathematical Statistics in 1986. From 1987 on, he taught at Stanford University, where he served as Chair of the Department of Statistics and then as Director of the Financial and Risk Modeling Institute, and later became the Ray Lyman Wilber Professor.

Dr. Lai was distinguished in his academic excellence, and emphasized both theory and application in his research. He made groundbreaking contributions in sequential analysis, stochastic optimization and adaptive control, estimation and detection in time series and stochastic systems, semiparametric inference and statistical analysis of failure time data, and in probability theory. Dr. Lai worked tirelessly to promote statistical science in Taiwan. He served on the Advisory Board of the Institute of Statistical Science, Academia Sinica and helped establish Statistica Sinica, a joint journal with the International Chinese Statistical Association.

During his distinguished career, Dr. Lai received numerous honors. He was elected Fellow of the American Statistical Association, Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, and received the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies (COPSS) Award in 1983. Dr. Lai was elected Academia Sinica Academician in 1994.