21JUN CELEBRATING DR. LIM BOO LIAT - THE FIRST TO ATTAIN A PHD, AND WITH OTHER LASTING MEMORIES

USM PENANG, 21 June 2022 – Today Google acknowledges the life and achievements of Dr. Lim Boo Liat, Universiti Sains Malaysia's first PhD recipient in 1977.

The various awards and recognitions given to Boo Liat would attest to his scholarly achievements.

He was our alumni from the School of Biological Sciences, and his love for nature and the outdoors would have been the factor that spurred him on to contribute vastly to the field.

He was a zoologist who helped found the National Zoo of Malaysia and re-established the Malaysian Nature after being disrupted by World War II. He was a pioneer in understanding biological diversity, and was a strong advocate for conservation efforts in the country.

In addition to being the first to obtain a PhD from USM (in Zoology), he was also the first Southeast Asian and the fourth Asian to be awarded Honorary Membership to the American Society of Mammalogists, and with a few species named after him.

He had also been given recognition by the British Council (1959), Malaysia Toray Science Foundation (1995), Akademi Sains Malaysia (2007) and North American Society of Bat Research (2007). He was also a recipient of the Merdeka Award, environment category (2013).

Boo Liat passed away in 2020 (1926-2020).

May the legacy from his work continue to live on.

Text: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin