Chapter 28 Section 4 Outstanding Physiologist Lin Kesheng

Lim Kesheng (AD 1897-1969) was an outstanding physiologist born in Singapore, the eldest son of Lim Boon Keng.He went to school in England as a child.After graduating from high school, he entered the famous University of Edinburgh to study medicine.On the eve of graduation, World War I broke out. Lin Kesheng enlisted in the army and worked as a wartime medical doctor for four years. He did not return to school until after the war. In 1919, Lin Kesheng graduated from university with two bachelor's degrees in internal medicine and surgery, and was employed as a physiology lecturer at his alma mater.The following year, he received a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Edinburgh.Later, he went to the University of Chicago to engage in research work. In 1924, he received a Doctor of Science degree from the University of Edinburgh.In the same year, this outstanding young scholar returned to his motherland and was employed as a professor and head of the Department of Physiology at Peking Union Medical College Medical College. He was the first Chinese professor at the medical school.While working in Union Medical College, he founded the "Chinese Physiological Society", concurrently served as the editor-in-chief of the "Journal of Physiology", and served as the president of the Chinese Medical Association in 1928.

Lin Kesheng is a patriotic scientist. When the Anti-Japanese War broke out in 1937, Lin Kesheng sent his children back to Singapore to settle in his father's house in order to devote himself to the cause of the Anti-Japanese War, and then returned to the war-torn motherland alone.He organized the Ambulance Committee of the Red Cross Society of China, and set up the Ambulance Corps, serving as its captain.The Corps has successively dispatched more than 100 units to various theaters.At that time, there were few medical staff and there was a shortage of medicines and equipment. Lin Kesheng set up a medical school in Guiyang to train medical staff and set up a pharmaceutical and medical equipment manufacturing factory. In 1940, when Tan Kah Kee led a delegation of overseas Chinese from Nanyang back to China, he praised Lin Kesheng's "spirit of hard work" and gave him financial support for his work.

From 1942 to 1944, Lin Kesheng was sent to Burma to join the Chinese Expeditionary Force.There he served as Chief Medical Officer to General Stilwell, commander of the China Burma India Theater.In his work, he is not afraid of hardships and often works more than 10 hours a day. He has won many awards from the governments of China, the United States and the United Kingdom, and has been awarded a medal by the President of the United States twice. Before and after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he served as the director of the Military Medical Department of the Joint Logistics Headquarters, the dean of the National Defense Medical College, and established the military medical center education system. In 1948, he was elected as the first academician of Academia Sinica. In May 1949, he went to the United States.During the 20 years in the United States, Lin Kesheng was mainly engaged in medical teaching and research.He has conducted in-depth research on pain and pain relief mechanisms.In his lifetime, he wrote "Outline of Physiology" and nearly 90 academic papers. He is an accomplished scientist.

Lin Wenqing and others were born in overseas Chinese families in Nanyang and received education in the West. However, they have dedicated their knowledge and talents to the motherland at different times. They embody the love of a generation of overseas Chinese intellectuals in Nanyang for the motherland.