Academician Fu Hu passed away in Taipei on September 10, 2018. He was 86 years old.

Dr. Hu was the first political scientist to be elected as an academician of Academia Sinica. He was not only an expert in constitutional law, political culture, election behavior, political change, and political behavior; Dr. Hu was also the pioneer of modern political science in Taiwan and has made key contributions in discourses covering the political change and democratic transformation in Taiwan. Furthermore, he has conducted large-scale empirical studies in the field and was one of the first scholars in Taiwan to engage in political behavior research.

When Taiwan was governed under martial law, Dr. Hu publicly advocated for democracy and freedom, staunchly opposing authoritarian rule. He and the late Dr. Kuo-Shu Yang were among the founding members of the Taipei Society (澄社) formed in 1989 to promote freedom and political reform.

Throughout his illustrious career, Dr. Hu served as a visiting scholar at prestigious institutions including Yale University, Columbia University, and the University of Chicago. He was recognized and honored for his outstanding achievements both abroad and in Taiwan. His many accolades included holding an honorary professorship from the Department of Political Science at the National Taiwan University and being named an honorary researcher of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. Dr. Hu was the first professor to be honored with a chair professorship at the National Taiwan University and also served the inaugural Lien Chen-tung Chair Professor of Law and Politics. He also received the National Science Council (NSC) Outstanding Research Award, the Phi Tau Phi Scholastic Honor Society Outstanding Achievement Award, and the China Democratic Education Foundation (CDEF) Outstanding Democrats Award. In 1998, Dr. Hu was elected as an Academician of Academia Sinica.