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Professor HU Shiu Ying
An eminent scholar
in plant taxonomy, Professor Hu Shiu Ying is currently Honorary Professor
of Chinese Medicine at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Senior College
Tutor of Chung Chi College and Emeritus Senior Research Fellow of Arnold
Arboretum, Harvard University.
Professor Hu graduated from Ginling
College in Nanking in 1933 and received her Master of Science degree from
Lingnan University in 1937. In 1946, she became the first Chinese female
to pursue doctoral education in Harvard University under a scholarship from
Radcliffe College. Since obtaining her doctoral degree in 1949, Professor
Hu has devoted over half a century to the research of plants in Harvard.
In 1968, Professor Hu took up the position as Senior Lecturer in the Department
of Biology of Chung Chi College and continued her research work in the diversity
of Hong Kong vegetation. She was appointed Advisor to the Sunyatsen
Botanical Garden in Nanjing, Honorary Professor of South China Agriculture
University in Guangzhou, Advisor to the Fairy Lake Botanical Garden in Shenzhen,
and Honorary Professor of Chinese Medicine at the Chinese University in 1999.
Now in her nineties, Professor Hu still
enjoys her plant studies and is a prolific researcher. Devoted wholeheartedly
to the research of plant taxonomy throughout her working life, Professor
Hu has produced and identified as many as 185,000 plant specimens, and published
over 160 papers. Professor Hu is a great authority on Ilex, Hemerocaulis,
Paulonnia, Compositae and Orchidaceae.
Professor Hu has made tremendous contributions
to the promotion of botany and Chinese medicinal research at The Chinese
University since 1960s. She has travelled over the hilltops, valleys
and seashores in Hong Kong, and collected over 185,000 plant specimens.
A herbarium has been organized by the Professor Hu at the Biology Department
of the University, which also benefits a number of universities and research
institutes in the territory and on the mainland. Her active participation
in the development of Chinese medicinal research at The Chinese University
has contributed to the establishment of the former Chinese Medicinal Material
Research Centre in 1970s. She was also instrumental in the development
of the School of Chinese Medicine in the University. Professor Hu participated
in the research on Trilex, which involves primarily staff members of the
School of Chinese Medicine in the University. The project attracted
a generous grant of HK$8 million from the Industry Department of the Hong
Kong Special Administrative Region and the end product of the research --
Trilex is now available for sale in the market. In recognition of the
outstanding contributions of Professor Hu in botany and Chinese Medicinal
research, she was awarded the Bronze Bauhinia Star by the Government of the
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in 2001.
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