[4] After receiving his doctorate, Hsu held academic positions in Academia Sinica in Taiwan (1956–1971) then moved to University of Pittsburgh in 1970.

After earning his doctorate, Hsu returned to start his academic career, fulfilling a promise to his mother, his alma mater National Taiwan University, and the Academia Sinica.

While working in Taiwan, Hsu and Herbert Ma [zh] recruited many humanities and social science scholars to train Taiwanese academics.

Hsu is a contributing columnist for Chinese newspapers including China Times, United Daily News in Taiwan and Southern City News System in China． Hsu is one of the founding members of the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange, and has served as chair of its North American Committee since 1989.

Hsu recommended CCK Foundation grants to libraries to catalog rare Chinese books and to digitize historic maps of East Asia.