Chen Chun-han, LLM ’17, SJD ’22, died February 11 in Hsinchu City, Taiwan, at the age of 40. He was a preeminent human rights lawyer known for his advocacy on behalf of people with disabilities and his dedication to promoting fairness in Taiwan.
At Chen’s memorial service, Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, presented the family with a posthumous presidential citation, calling Chen’s death “a tremendous loss to Taiwanese society.”
Chen excelled academically despite having spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) since childhood, a neurodegenerative disease that limited his physical movements to the point where he could only move his eyes, mouth, and one finger by the time of his death.
At Michigan Law, he was a strong class participant during his LLM year, known to classmates and professors for both his intellectual commitment and sense of humor. Chen’s SJD dissertation, “Equality, Non-Discrimination, and Reasonable Accommodation: The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities through Comparative Perspectives,” fed directly into his passion for equity.
His dissertation adviser, Professor Steven Ratner, notes, “Chun-han’s work was unique in its appreciation of the link between theories of human rights and international law concerning persons with disabilities.”
After returning to Taiwan following his studies at Michigan, Chen championed the rights of people with disabilities, including fighting for Taiwan’s national health insurance system to fully cover treatment for all SMA patients. He was dedicated to promoting independent living for people with disabilities, advocating for enhanced accessibility in public areas and for supportive policies within society—including amending the People with Disabilities Rights Protection Act to ban discrimination in employment, housing, and all other aspects of life.
