Tsu-Jae King Liu earned her B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering at Stanford University in 1984, 1986 and 1994, respectively. From 1992 to 1996, she was member of research staff at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). In 1996, she joined the faculty of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS) at the University of California, Berkeley, where she is now Dean of the College of Engineering.

Liu is internationally known in academia and industry for her innovations in semiconductor devices and technology, and is highly regarded for her achievements as an instructor, mentor and administrator. She is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, a fellow of the U.S. National Academy of Inventors, and a board member for Intel Corporation and for Maxlinear, Inc. Her awards and honors include the Ross M. Tucker AIME Electronics Materials Award for seminal work in polycrystalline silicon-germanium thin films, the Intel Outstanding Researcher in Nanotechnology Award, the IEEE Aldert van der Ziel Award for distinguished educational and research contributions to the field of electronic devices and materials, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Significant Technical Achievement Award for her role in the development of the FinFET, an advanced transistor design used in high-end computer chips.