Yife Tien

Background

Yife Tien was born in Taiwan to Ming and Paul Tien. His mother worked at an electronics company and his father served as president of Belmont College (then known as Belmont Technical College).

Education

Tien graduated from the University of Cincinnati. He then attended Universidad Central del Este with hopes to become a doctor, but dropped out after one year.

Career

In 1964, the family emigrated to America, where they initially settled in Ohio. Shortly after, in 1978, he moved to the Caribbean island of Montserrat to help his father run his newly established for-profit medical school, the American University of the Caribbean (AUC). By 2003, Paul had retired and moved back to Taiwan, leaving Yife to serve as chancellor and handle AUC"s day-to-day operations.

He has served as Chief Operating Officer of the school since 1995.

In 2006, Tien founded Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine (RVUCOM) with $30 million from his father. He currently serves as Chancellor.

Tien currently sits on the board of the International Association of Medical Colleges and has served as its treasurer. Tien is also a real estate investor, with a portfolio of properties both in Florida and California.

In 2011, Tien and his father sold AUC to DeVry for $235 million.

Achievements

• He is founder and chancellor of Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine, as well as the former chancellor of American University of the Caribbean. In the September 2008 issue of Forbes Magazine, Tien was featured in a four-page spread for his entrepreneurial achievements in the medical education industry.