ZHENG Ruyong, an 88-year-old famous mycologist in China and academician at Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IMCAS), and her husband HUANG He, also a researcher aged 90, donated their life savings of RMB 1.5 million yuan to the Education Foundation of University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) on April 2, 2019, to set up“ZHENG Ruyong-HUANG He Scholarship” to award young students in scientific research.

ZHENG said: "Without China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, I would not have come so far. So, I would like to make a little contribution to my country."

ZHENG, a famous mycologist in China, was born in Hong Kong, China in 1931. Her father, Mr. ZHENG Tieru, was a famous financier and banker in China. She entered the Institute of Fungal Plant Diseases of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1953 after her graduation from university, and served as former deputy director of Academic Committee of IMCAS, vice chairman of the Mycology Committee for the International Mycological Association for Development of Asian Countries. She is currently a professor at IMCAS, and a doctoral tutor at UCAS.

For the first time, ZHENG discovered endophytic Mucor in higher plants worldwide and reported some new species and varieties of endemic human pathogenic Mucor in China. In 1987, she completed the Study of Chinese Epiphyte-Erysiphales, which became an internationally recognized work on Erysiphales. Even now, her classification system of Erysiphales still maintain a leading position in the world. In 1999, she was elected academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences.

HUANG He, ZHENG’s husband, was born in Yongan, Fujiang Province in 1929, was recruited to the Department of Agronomy of Tsinghua University in 1947, and then studied at Department of Plant Pathology in Beijing Agricultural University. He worked at the Institute of plant classification, CAS after graduation. In 1953, he participated in the establishment of the Fungal Plant Disease Research Laboratory of CAS and was engaged in the plant pathology research with Prof.  LIN Chuanguang, mainly working on the potato late blight. Afterward, he participated in the study on physiological and biochemical classification of the mucor group. He is also a senior scientist at IMCAS.

They have supported each other for more than half a century and maintained purity and integrity to serve the country. They have dedicated themselves to the country, and also the scientific research without seeking anything in return. They are still thinking about doing more for the country, and making every effort to support the young researchers.