In 1979 she obtained her PhD from NTNU and entered the Institute of Modern History at the Academia Sinica. It was only with the encouragement of Li Mo and other senior scholars that she and her husband left to study in America.
1979 年，取得師大博士候選人資格並進入中研院近史所後，在李模等長輩、師長的催促與鼓勵下，她才偕同夫婿赴美深造。