CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Prof. Joyce Yen Feng, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumna and professor emerita in the Department of Social Work at National Taiwan University (NTU), is the recipient of the 2026 Madhuri and Jagdish N. Sheth International Alumni Award for Exceptional Achievement.
She will deliver this year’s Sheth Distinguished Alumni Lecture in celebration of her recognition from noon to 1 p.m. on April 28 in Room 103 at the Illini Union. Hors d'oeuvres and beverages will be provided.
The lecture is free and open to the public, but rhighly encouraged.
Feng is one of five recipients of the 2026 International Achievement Awards, which recognize outstanding alumni, faculty, and students whose exceptional work, service, and scholarship made significant, lasting global impact.
After earning her master’s degree from the School of Social Work at Illinois in 1981, and her Ph.D. in 1988, Feng went on to become a visionary figure in social welfare and innovation.
Highly respected in her field, she credits the rigorous academic training she received at Illinois for creating the solid foundation she used when driving institutional reform and social development in Taiwan.
In his nomination letter of support, Prof. Benjamin Lough, professor and dean at the School of Social Work (at Illinois) and director of social innovation at the Gies College of Business, spoke highly of Feng’s credentials and alignment with other Sheth alumni awardees, whose achievements bring distinction to the university through their contributions to humanity and human welfare.
Feng’s work in the areas of child welfare, ethical governance, and national policy exemplifies the values enshrined in the Sheth International Alumni Award for Exceptional Achievement.
“Her career offers a practical demonstration of what global citizenship looks like when grounded in professional competence and a commitment to strengthening the systems that support those most in need,” Lough said.
Feng started teaching at NTU in 1983, where she remained until her retirement in 2022. During her tenure, she dedicated herself to academic research, publishing five specialized books, and over 300 academic papers. She was the founding chair of the Department of Social Work in 2002 and served two terms as the dean of student affairs from 2005 to 2012.
Feng also committed herself to government service, and her visionary promotion and pioneering work in social enterprise policy is why she is widely honored as the “Mother of Social Enterprise” in Taiwan.
She led initiatives to find missing children and expand services for vulnerable families as the founding CEO and former chair of the Child Welfare League Foundation (CWLF).
She co-founded United Way Taiwan in 1992 and the Taiwan NPO Self-Regulation Alliance in 2005 to promote accountability and transparency in the nonprofit sector.
From 2013 to 2016 she served as a minister without portfolio in the Executive Yuan and utilized her expertise in social work to oversee social welfare policy and eventually transformed traditional, residual social welfare thinking into sustainable social innovation.
One of her most notable contributions was leading the planning and passage of Taiwan’s 2014 Social Enterprise Action Plan, which integrated resources from nine ministries to build a social enterprise ecosystem. She also helped pass the Long-Term Care Service Act in 2015.
These initiatives promoted social enterprises and established a robust care system that set aging adults and people with disabilities at the forefront, allowing Taiwan to make significant progress in expanding services and resources to those requiring long-term care, including their caregivers.
After retiring, Feng's work has continued. Not only is she actively involved in the, but she also sits on 15 professional or philanthropic non-governmental organization (NGO) boards, and several government advisory committees.
In his letter, Lough wrote that Feng represents a rare case of an alum, “whose influence can not only be traced through her professional accomplishment, but also through the institutional norms and structures that define a field.”
“She has used social work knowledge as a tool of system design. The institutions she helped to establish in Taiwan…are major movers of social welfare,” Lough said. “They are the kinds of organizations that define the architecture for how a society organizes care and public trust for people who are most vulnerable. The scale of her influence is unusual, and her approach brings a coherence needed to ensure people are cared for at multiple levels.”
Lough explained that Feng’s work shows what it means to think ecologically; to understand the impact organizations have on individuals within these systems, and the policy structures that shape their lives.
He added that she demonstrates how practitioners can translate micro-level insight into organizational innovation, and how those lessons can, in turn, inform national legislation.
“For our students, she represents a living example of how professional values and systemic thinking can reinforce different levels of practice,” Lough said.
About the Madhuri and Jagdish N. Sheth International Alumni Award for Exceptional Achievement
Established in 2000, the award recognizes international alumni who are highly distinguished in their profession, have made outstanding contributions to government, humanity, science, art, or human welfare, and exemplify the strength of their education at Illinois.
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To learn more about these funds or to help support Illinois International’s mission to foster greater global engagement at Illinois by contributing a tax-deductible donation, please visit the Illinois International giving page.
Nominate a future International Achievement Award recipient
To honor and celebrate the accomplishments of deserving alumni, faculty, and students for their globally focused work or scholarship with an International Achievement Award nomination, please visit the nomination page. Nominations for all five award categories are collected each fall semester.
Analicia Haynes is the storytelling and social media specialist at Illinois International. She can be reached at ahayn2@illinois.edu.