A brief introduction of Ray Wu Memorial Fund: In order to commemorate Dr. Ray Wu’s outstanding contribution in fostering the new-generation of Chinese biologists and to inspire Ph.D. candidates to become future leaders in life sciences, students and friends of Dr. Ray Wu founded Ray Wu Memorial Fund in April 2008, with funds donated by themselves and other resources. The Ray Wu Prize for Excellence in Life Sciences was created for excellent graduate students in Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, to inspire more young people to make contributions to the field of life science, following the footsteps of Dr. Wu.

Ray Wu was an internationally renowned biologist and geneticist, who devoted himself to the development of life sciences globally, as well as in China. He was born in China and after completing advanced education in the US, he became a professor of Molecular Biology at Cornell University. In the 1970s, he developed the first method of DNA sequencing and achieved the first DNA sequence in the world. He pioneered recombinant DNA technology, which laid the groundwork for today’s bio-technology industry. In the 1980s, he moved his focus to the genetic engineering of rice; in 1981, he initiated an exchange program, CUSBEA (China-United States Biology and Biochemistry Examinations and Applications.) ,which brought 422 top Chinese graduates to pursue Ph.D. degrees in the US which cultivated a generation of biological talents for China. In that special historical era, CUSBEA successfully opened a gate for the communication between China and the US, which greatly sped up the pace of Chinese students studying in the US and helped push the development of science and education in China; he played numerous advisory roles to Chinese governments on science development, and he built a bridge for China and the US to cooperate in the field of life science research and education. On February 10, 2008, Ray Wu died at the age of 79 from heart disease in New York. He donated his estate of $360,000 to The Chinese Biological Investigators Society (CBIS) after his death.

The cooperation with Ray Wu Memorial Fund:

Dr. Eric Xu, the founder of Yifang Foundation, studied in Dr. Ray Wu’s laboratory in Cornell University in the US. To commemorate Dr. Ray Wu’s great contribution in promoting academic exchanges for China and the US in the field of life sciences and especially in supporting Chinese students to pursue Ph.D. degrees in life science in the US, Dr. Eric Xu continuously donates to the Ray Wu Memorial Fund and actively supports them and their various activities.