Ted Hsu

Theodore Hsu, (/ˈʃuː/; Chinese: 徐正陶; born March 4, 1964) is a Canadian physicist and politician.[1] A member of the Liberal Party, he represented the riding of Kingston and the Islands for one term, from the 2011 election to 2015, holding various critic roles.

Ted Hsu
徐正陶
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Kingston and the Islands
In office
May 2, 2011 – October 18, 2015
Preceded byPeter Milliken
Succeeded byMark Gerretsen
Personal details
Born
Theodore Hsu

(1964-03-04) March 4, 1964
Bartlesville, Oklahoma
Political partyLiberal
Spouse(s)Tara Sharkey
ResidenceKingston, Ontario
Alma materQueen's University (B.Sc.)
Princeton University (Ph.D.)
Websitetedhsu.ca

Early life and career

THsu was born in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, in 1964 to James and Marjorie and is of Chinese descent. He is fluent in French and Mandarin..[2] When he was six-months old the family moved to Kingston, Ontario where his father joined Queen's University as a chemical engineering professor. He has two younger brothers, Bob and Leon.[1][3]

He graduated in 1980 from Loyalist Collegiate and Vocational Institute in Kingston at age 16. In 1984, he graduated from Queen's University with an honours bachelor of science in physics. He pursued graduate studies at Princeton University, where he received his Ph.D. in physics in 1989 after completing a doctoral dissertation, titled "Towards an understanding of the large U-Hubbard model and a theory for high temperature superconductors", under the supervision of Philip W. Anderson.[2][4] He did post-doctoral research in Chalk River, Vancouver, and France.[1]

Hsu has worked as a researcher and trader in Paris and Philadelphia for Banque Nationale de Paris, and as an executive director in the Tokyo office of Morgan Stanley. He was also the executive director of SWITCH, a Kingston-based not-for-profit association that promotes job creation and investment in sustainable energy.[5]

Politics

Hsu was the treasurer of the Kingston and the Islands Federal Liberal Association for four yeats, and was an active member of its policy committee.[6] He worked in the 2007 and 2008 provincial and federal Liberal campaigns for John Gerretsen and Peter Milliken. Following Milliken's announcement in summer 2010 that he would not seek re-election, a nomination contest was set up, and in November, Hsu won the Liberal nomination to be the party's 2011 candidate for Member of Parliament (MP).[7]

In Parliament

In the federal election held on May 2, 2011, Hsu defeated Conservative candidate Alicia Gordon by less than 3,000 votes. The election was the Liberal Party's worst showing in its history and Hsu was one of only two new Liberals elected in the country.

On June 1, 2011, interim Liberal leader Bob Rae announced that Hsu would serve in the Liberal Party shadow cabinet as the critic for science and technology, critic for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontarioy and critic for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario.[8] On November 21, 2011, Hsu was the first runner-up to Conservative MP Chris Alexander as Rookie of the Year, in Maclean's annual Parliamentarians of the Year awards.[9]

In June 2012, Hsu was named chair of the Ontario federal Liberal Caucus. On November 21, 2012, Hsu was the first runner-up for the Rising Star award, in Maclean's annual Parliamentarians of the Year awards.[10]

In August 2013, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau appointed Hsu to the additional role as Liberal critic for post-secondary education.

In November 2013, Hsu was the winner of a Maclean's Parliamentarian of the Year Award. He was voted by parliamentarians from all parties as the MP who "Best Represents Constituents".[11]

In August 2014, Hsu announced that he would not run for re-election in the upcoming 2015 federal election citing the burdens of political life on his young family.[12]

In September, 2014, he introduced private member's bill, "Bill C-626, An Act to amend the Statistics Act" with the intention appointing a Chief Statistician and reinstatement of the long-form census which had been abandoned by Canada in 2011.[13] (See Canada 2011 Census)

After office

After leaving the House of Commons, Ted Hsu became a co-chair of Kingston's task force on housing.[14] In 2019, Hsu managed the successful re-election campaign of Mark Gerretsen, the Liberal MP who replaced him.[15] The following year, Hsu announced his campaign for candidacy in the Ontario Liberal Party citing a need for someone with his science policy experience amid the Covid-19 pandemic.[16]

Electoral record
2011 federal election : Kingston and the Islands
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
LiberalTed Hsu23,84239.31%+0.6%
ConservativeAlicia Gordon21,18934.93%+2.4%
New DemocraticDaniel Beals13,06521.54%+4.1%
GreenEric Walton2,5614.22%-6.6%
Total valid votes/Expense limit 60,657100.0%n/a
Total rejected ballots 219
Turnout 60,87663.6%

Source: 2Z3 Elections Canada

References
  1. "Queens AMS Candidate Profile of Ted". Liberal Party of Canada. Retrieved June 6, 2011.
  2. Ibbitson, John (May 10, 2011). "Physicist, financial consultant, green advocate, father – and new Liberal MP". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  3. Gerard, Steve (July 6, 2011). "CBC: Ted Hsu, the Future of the Liberal Party?". The Kingston Herald. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
  4. Hsu, Theodore Cheng-Tao (1989). Towards an understanding of the large U-Hubbbard model and a theory for high temperature superconductors.
  5. Gerard, Steve. "Ted Hsu Launches Campaign to Replace Peter Milliken". The Kingston Herald. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
  6. "About Ted Hsu". Liberal Party. Archived from the original on August 30, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
  7. Clancy, Clare (November 9, 2010). "If the Hsu fits, nominate it". The Journal. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
  8. "Kingston's Ted Hsu Receives Two Liberal Portfolios". Kingston Herald. June 2, 2011. Retrieved June 6, 2011.
  9. "Kingston MP Ted Hsu Voted 1st Runner Up, Rookie of the Year". Kingston Herald. Retrieved November 23, 2011.
  10. "Kingston MP Ted Hsu Voted 1st Runner Up, Rising Star". Maclean's. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
  11. "The 2013 Parliamentarians of the Year". Maclean's. November 18, 2013. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
  12. Hsu, Ted (August 7, 2014). "I am choosing not to run for re-election in 2015". Blog.tedhsu.ca. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
  13. "Bill 626-An Act to amend the Statistics Act (appointment of Chief Statistician and long-form census)". openparliament.ca. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
  14. "Want to move to Kingston? You may have trouble finding a home". CBC. July 10, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  15. Ferguson, Elliot (October 22, 2019). "Kingston's Gerretsen ready to work in minority government". West Elgin Chronicle. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  16. Mazur, Alexandra (July 30, 2020). "Former MP announces bid for Liberal MPP nomination in Kingston and the Islands". Global. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
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