We are deeply saddened to share the passing of our colleague and friend James Liu. 

We share some words from Dr. Kirsty Ross, Head of School of Psychology at Massey University, New Zealand.

Dr. James Liu has passed away whilst in Indonesia to deliver a keynote speech to the International Association of Cross-Cultural Psychology, as an invited keynote speaker.

James Liu was born in Taiwan as Liu Hou-fu. His parents emigrated to Taiwan following the civil war in China. They then emigrated to the United States where James grew up in a small town in the Midwest (Carbondale, Illinois). He received a PhD in psychology from UCLA in 1992, and did a post-doc at Florida Atlantic University. His father, the late eminent neo-Confucian philosopher Shu-hsien Liu, referred to himself and his discipline as a “gypsy spirit”, and James shared this view. A naturalized citizen of two countries, James described himself as a Chinese-American-New Zealander and he was indeed a citizen of the world, able to see multiple perspectives and realities.

James was Professor in the School of Psychology at Massey University in New Zealand. Previously, he was at Victoria University in New Zealand (1994 to 2015), where he was a Professor of Psychology and Co-Director of the Centre for Applied Cross-Cultural Research. He was a renowned expert in cross-cultural and indigenous psychology; his work centered on how Chinese philosophy and culture influences the present-day psychology and practices of Chinese people today (with several articles written with his late father).

James was an incredible scholar and academic, with more than 200 refereed publications, which have been cited more than 10,000 times. He mentored many students to have successful and flourishing careers and his loss to psychology and academia is immeasurable. James was a loving father, husband and family man and he was a treasured friend and colleague to many.