Dr. Chung-Chih Li was born in Tainan, a southern county of Taiwan famous for its historical trace. At the age of five Chung-Chih moved to the nation's capital, Taipei, with his family. After he received his Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science from Tamkang University in Taiwan, Chung-Chih worked as a programmer in Taipei. In 1989, he married his high school sweetheart, Shih-Wei Chiang, and moved to the US to explore the new world. He received his Master of Science degree in Computer Science from Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas in 1991, and earned his Ph.D. in Computer and Information Science from Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York in 2001.

As for Dr. Li's academic career, he was a visiting professor at Colgate University, Hamilton, New York during 2001-2002, and then became an Assistant Professor at Computer Science Department at Lamar University during 2002-2006. Starting from Fall 2006, Chung-Chih jointed the School of Information Technology at Illinois State University. His doctoral dissertation was in the area of theoretical computer science with Higher-ordered Computability as his specialty. His current research interests include Higher-typed Computational Complexity, Algorithms, Cryptography/Security, Computational Learning Theory, and Philosophy of Mathematics.

Chung-Chih is a coffee nut who loves coffee just enough to roast his own coffee beans at home for his splendid La Pavoni espresso machine. Students who visit his office often should have noticed that Dr. Li is also a classical music lover who always turns his radio on. He has a Krell amplifier at home for his CD collection. According to Chung-Chih, you must be crazy enough and have a good wife in order to possess a Krell machine since Krell is notorious in the world of audiophiles for its tough WAF, Wife Approval Factor. Chung-Chih lives with his wife and two sons, Sean (1991) and Leon (1996), in Bloomington, and this year (2006) will be the family's first experience with the Midwest.