Gloria Lim BBM (1930 – 11 July 2022) was a Singaporean

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, genetics, biochemical properties, and use by humans. Fungi can be a source of tinder, food, traditional medicine, as well as entheogens, poison, and ...

whose research focused on tropical

fungi A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

and who built up a fungal repository of regional samples. Lim was twice appointed as Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Singapore (now the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...

), the first woman to hold that position. After her retirement, she became the first Director of Singapore's

National Institute of Education The National Institute of Education (NIE) is an autonomous institute of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore. Ranked 10th in the world and 2nd in Asia by the QS World University Rankings in the subject of Education and Trainin ...

and helped it launch a university degree program. She served on the

Public Service Commission Public Service Commission may refer to: * Public utilities commission ** Alabama Public Service Commission ** Public Service Commission (Indiana) ** Public Service Commission of Utah ** Public Utilities Commission of Ohio ** Public Utilities Com ...

as its first woman commissioner for 14 years, and then served as general manager of the Community Mediation Unit for 8 years. Lim received numerous honours and awards for her contributions to science and to improving education in Singapore. She died on 11 July 2022.

Early life and education

Gloria Lim was born in Singapore in 1930. While the girls school she attended did not teach sciences, she graduated from the University of Singapore with a BS in

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

with

first-class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

in 1954. She earned a Diploma in Education in 1956 and an MS in plant pathology in 1957 from the

University of Malaya The Universiti Malaya (lit 'University of Malaya'; abbreviated UM) is a public university, public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest Malaysian institution of higher education, and was the only university in ...

in Kuala Lumpur. Lim began teaching at the Raffles Girls' School; she later was hired to teach at the University of Malaya and divided her time teaching at Raffles in the morning and botany at the university in the afternoons. She was awarded an Inter-University Council Fellowship which allowed her to attend the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. Lim earned her doctorate in 1961 and then attended the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, on a

Fulbright Fellowship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...

between 1966 and 1967, becoming a mycologist.

Scientific career

Returning to Singapore, Lim became an expert on fungi and built up a unique repository of the region's fungal species, writing hundreds of research articles and consulting with universities and businesses at home and abroad. She worked on the advisory board of a company developing medicinal mushrooms, and assisted the Singaporean Ministry of Defence when their storage bunkers developed

mould A mold () or mould () is one of the structures that certain fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of spores containing fungal secondary metabolites. The spores are the dispersal units of the fungi ...

. After her retirement, the collection of various species was disassembled and destroyed.

Academic career

Lim was named Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Singapore in 1973, becoming the first woman to hold the position. Her first appointment lasted four years and then she was appointed again to serve in 1979, but she resigned in 1980 when the university merged with

Nanyang University Nanyang University () was a private university in Singapore between 1956 and 1980. During its existence, it was Singapore's only private university in the Chinese language. In 1980, Nanyang University was merged with the University of Singapore ...

, to allow Nanyang's former Dean to continue in the post. In 1982 she became the first woman to serve on the Public Service Commission (PSC), and in 1985 became the first woman to head the Department of Botany when the university became the

(NUS). Lim retired from the NUS in 1991 and took a position at the

(NIE) as its inaugural director. Her job was to develop the Institute of Education (IE) on a fully accredited university standard; when she retired in 1994, the program was offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs.

Other activities

Between 2003 and 2011, Lim served as general manager of the Community Mediation Unit (CMU), a board designed to solve community disputes.

Awards and honours

In 1993 Lim was honoured with the

Bintang Bakti Masyarakat The Bintang Bakti Masyarakat (English: Public Service Star) is a Singaporean orders and decorations, Singaporean decoration instituted in 1963. It is awarded to any person who has rendered valuable public service to the people of Singapore, or wh ...

(Public Service Star) for her contributions to the PSC, which she continued to serve until 1996. Lim retired from NIE in 1994. In July 1999, she was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Science from

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...

in England for her contributions to science and education in Singapore. In 2005, Lim was honoured with the Distinguished Science Alumni Awards from the NUS and in 2014 she was one of the inaugural class of inductees into the Singapore Women's Hall of Fame.

Selected works

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References

Bibliography

External links

WorldCat Publications
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lim, Gloria 1930 births 2022 deaths Recipients of the Bintang Bakti Masyarakat Singaporean biologists 20th-century women scientists University of Singapore alumni University of Malaya alumni Alumni of the University of London National University of Singapore deans Academic staff of the National Institute of Education 21st-century women scientists Mycologists Singaporean women scientists