Ko Chih-en

Ko was born in Pingtung County in 1962. Her father, Ko Wen-fu [zh], served as the magistrate of Pingtung County between 1973 and 1981.^[1]

After high school, Ko graduated from National Chengchi University with a bachelor's degree in education in 1984. She then completed graduate studies in the United States, earning a Master of Education (M.Ed.) from Michigan State University and, in 1992, her Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Southern California. Her doctoral dissertation was titled, "Instructional media selection: Interactive effects of timing of feedback and learners' prior knowledge on the achievement and retention of a computer-based mathematical task".^[2]

After receiving her doctorate, Ko joined the faculty of Tamkang University.^[3] In 2008, she was named dean of student affairs at Tamkang.^[4]

In November 2015, Ko was placed second on the Kuomintang party list, immediately following longtime legislator Wang Jin-pyng,^[5] regarded as part of the safe list, ensuring electoral victory.^[6][7] She arrived at the Legislative Yuan to take office on 1 February 2016, with a group of Tamkang students.^[8] Shortly after Ko was seated, the Kuomintang asked her to open an office in Pingtung County.^[9] She served as convener of the legislative education committee between February 2017 and March 2018,^[10][11] later leading the KMT's women's department.^[12] In May 2017, Ko joined the Renewable Power Promotion Alliance founded by Mary Chen.^[13]

As a legislator, Ko took an interest in education,^[14] LGBT rights,^[15][16] women's rights, pension reform, and energy.^[17][18] She was supportive of many cultural exchanges between Taiwan and other countries,^[19] namely China.^[20][21][22] Soon after taking office, she co-signed a bill proposed by Karen Yu to allow young children into the legislative chamber.^[23] In March 2018, Ko remarked that customs deemed discriminatory toward women should be phased out.^[24] She approached pension reform from a schoolteacher's perspective,^[25][26] proposing that the monthly pension be capped at NT$32,160,^[27] and suggested that pensions be withheld from retired public servants that took positions at government funded agencies willing to pay half of their former salary.^[28]

Ko drew attention to corruption on private school boards,^[29] the labor rights of graduate students,^[30] funding for internships,^[31] and policies affecting foreign students.^[32][33] She took an interest in student safety,^[34][35] and to this end, helped pass stricter restrictions on cram school instructors.^[36][37] In November 2017, Ko advised James C. Liao and others affiliated with Academia Sinica to resign from National Taiwan University's presidential selection committee to avoid a conflict of interest, as two candidates under consideration were Academia Sinica's then- and former vice president.^[38] When Kuan Chung-ming was named NTU president, Ko pushed the Ministry of Education to confirm his election,^[39][40] though Kuan was also suspected of a conflict of interest.^[41]

Upon completing her term in the Legislative Yuan, Ko returned to her professorship within Tamkang University's Graduate Institute of Educational Psychology and Counseling and concurrently headed the National Policy Foundation, a Kuomintang think tank. She was nominated as the KMT candidate for the Kaohsiung mayoralty in June 2022.^[1] In November 2023, Ko was ranked second on the Kuomintang proportional representation party list for the 2024 legislative election.^[42]

Ko has two children with her husband, Hung De-cheng: a son, Hung Fu, and a daughter, Hung Chun.