BEIJING, April 2 (Xinhua) -- A couple of senior Chinese scientists donated their life savings of 1.5 million yuan (about 223,000 U.S. dollars) to the education foundation of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences to establish a scholarship on Tuesday.
Zheng Ruyong, an 88-year-old academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and her husband Huang He, also a scientist in his 90s, set up the scholarship to encourage young students to pursue scientific studies.
Zheng, born in Hong Kong in 1931, entered CAS in 1953 to become a mycologist. Her research on powdery mildew has reached the world advanced level.
She suffered from bone rarefaction and lumbar disease as a result of longtime work in front of a microscope. Over the past 15 years, she stood more than eight hours every day to continue her research.
From 2012 to 2018, Zheng donated a total of 300,000 yuan to the Beijing Haiying Spinal Health Foundation to help surgical treatment of poor children suffering from spinal diseases.
Living a simple life, the couple donated all their savings to help young students and sick children.
