Fudan opens memorial to dedicated botanist

A memorial for the late botanist Zhong Yang has been unveiled at Fudan University, three years after he passed away.

Zhong was a professor of life sciences at Fudan and dean of the university’s graduate school. He was a leading scientist in China in the fields of botany, ecology, bioinformatics and evolutionary biology.

He was also well known for spending 16 years assisting development in Tibet. He collected about 40 million seeds to build a genetic bank of plants that grow exclusively in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and helped develop ecology education in Tibet.

He died in a car accident on September 25, 2017, while on a work trip in Erdos City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. He was 53.

“Over the past three years, we have been missing Professor Zhong Yang every moment,” said Jiao Yang, Party Secretary of the university. “We are also continuously inspired by the ‘seed’ of his spirit.”

According to Jiao, the university has been promoting Zhong's legacy and encourages other teachers to learn from him in serving the country in education and research.

The memorial is located in the School of Life Sciences building at Fudan’s Jiangwan Campus. Displayed artifacts include a sample of the seeds he collected, books he wrote, his tools and even clothing he wore during fieldwork.

At the unveiling ceremony, Fudan University Press donated 110,000 yuan (US$16,200) to a foundation set up in Zhong's name by his wife, Zhang Xiaoyan. The foundation supports teachers and students dedicated to science, charity and education.