
Born in 1943 in Pingtung County’s Hakka settlement Neipu Township, Hsu Cheng-kuang, a retired researcher of Academia Sinica who served as the president of Taipei City Hakka Cultural Foundation (臺北市客家文化基金會) and publisher of “Hakka Monthly (客家雜誌),” is an important driving force behind the preparation of HAC and the founder of the Association for Hakka Studies (臺灣客家研究學會). He actively conducts Hakka research and publishes many important Hakka academic works. In addition, Hsu has devoted himself to participating in social movements, including the Hakka Language Restoration Movement (還我母語運動) in 1988, which is the key to the awakening of Taiwanese Hakka consciousness. Through street demonstrations, he protested against unjust policies on culture and language, fought for the right to speak for the Hakka community, and called on the government to face up the crisis in Hakka language loss.
Yang Guei-yun (楊貴運), winner of Lifetime Achievement Award

Born in Taoyuan in 1925, Yang Guei-yun was the founding president of Taiwanese Hakka Association of the World (世界台灣客家聯合會). Yang studied in the United States in the 1950s and then settled down in California. He is committed to uniting members of the Hakka community at home and abroad. Yang actively promoted the Hakka language as one of the national languages in Taiwan while he served as a national policy advisor in the government from 2000 to 2008. The 96-year-old spares no efforts to create a global Hakka organization which takes Taiwan as its focus, greatly admired by the members of the Taiwanese Hakka community.
Liao Yun-fan (廖運範), first winner of the Special Achievement Award

Born in Taoyuan’s Yangmei District in 1942, Liao Yun-fan, a Hakka academician of the Academia Sinica and major publisher of “Medicine Today (當代醫學)” journal, has achieved considerable accomplishments in the field of medical science. In recognition of his dedication, Taiwan’s Ministry of Education gave Liao the Academic Award by in 1988, making him a well-known leading authority on liver disease in the country. He was also internationally recognized by the European Association for the Study of the Liver in 2013, receiving the highest honor in the academic realm.