Hollow fiber supported liquid membrane was applied as a reactor to synthesize ethyl lactate from lactic acid. Lactic acid in the feed solution was extracted by tri-n-octylamine (TOA) and stripped by ethanol with p-toluene sulfonic acid acting as the catalyst to form ethyl lactate. Central composite design (CCD) was used to determine the significant factors and their interactions. The response surface was applied for optimization. An optimized yield of 30% was predicted and its validity was evaluated by comparison with experimental results at different concentrations of lactic acid in the feed solution, with good agreement achieved.