Philip L-F. Liu

Philip L-F. Liu is the Class of 1912 Professor at Cornell University and holds the Kwoh-Ting Lee Chair Professorship at National Central University, Taiwan. Currently on leave from Cornell, he serves as Distinguished Professor and Vice President for Research and Technology at the National University of Singapore (NUS). His research focuses on coastal oceanography, water wave theory, tsunami dynamics, and sediment transport, integrating analytical, computational, and experimental methods. Liu pioneered unified mathematical models for wave behavior and developed the CORBAS numerical model for engineering applications.

• Education: B.S. (National Taiwan University, 1968), S.M. & ScD (MIT, 1971–1974)
• Leadership Roles: Director of Cornell’s School of CEE (2009–2015), Associate Dean (1986–1987)

Research Interests: Wave-structure interactions, tsunami hazard mitigation, and turbulence in swash flows. His work has been recognized through prestigious awards including membership in the National Academy of Engineering (2015), Guggenheim Fellowship (1980), and multiple ASCE honors. He has authored over 200 papers and contributed to major initiatives like the NSF Task Force on the 2004 Asian tsunami.

Liu teaches Coastal Engineering at the undergraduate level and advanced numerical methods for environmental flows to graduate students. His lab collaborations include modeling tsunamis, storm surges, and coastal vegetation effects.