Robert Kho-Seng Lim (; 15 October 1897 – 8 July 1969), also known as Bobby Li, was a Singaporean medical doctor.

Life

Lim was born in Singapore in 1897. He was the son of

Lim Boon Keng Lim Boon Keng (; 18 October 1869 – 1 January 1957) was a Peranakan physician who advocated social and educational reforms in Singapore in the early 20th-century. He also served as the president of Xiamen University in China between 1921 and ...

, who promoted social and educational reforms in Singapore and China. The family moved to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

in Scotland when he was eight. He attended

George Watson's College George Watson's College is a co-educational independent day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a hospital school in 1741, became a day school in 1871, and was merg ...

. During the World War I, he volunteered for and served in the

Indian army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

medical service. In 1916, he returned to Edinburgh for medical studies, and graduated in 1919 with a

MB ChB Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United King ...

in medicine from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 158 ...

, where he subsequently earned a PhD in 1921, and a DSc in 1923. Aged 26, he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

, proposers were Sir Edward Albert Sharpey-Schafer, William White Taylor,

Arthur Robertson Cushny Arthur Robertson Cushny FRS FRSE LLD (6 March 1866 – 25 February 1926), was a Scottish pharmacologist and physiologist who became a Fellow of the Royal Society. Life Cushny was born on 6 March 1866 in Fochabers, Moray, Scotland, the four ...

, and George Barger. Lim was awarded a

Rockefeller fellowship The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carn ...

in 1924, and used this to travel to the United States. He worked in the department of physiology in the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the be ...

before he was appointed associate professor, then head of department at the

Peking Union Medical College Peking Union Medical College (), founded in 1906, is a selective public medical college based in Dongcheng, Beijing, China. It is a Chinese Ministry of Education Double First Class University Plan university. The school is tied to the Peking U ...

. He was the founder of the Chinese Physiological Society.Francis Cooray & Khoo Salma Nasution, ''Redoutable Rerformer: The Life and Times of Cheah Cheang Lim''. Areca Books, 2015. In 1929, Lim became a trustee of the 'Nanyang Club' in

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...

, appointed by Cheah Cheang Lim. Other trustees included Queen's scholars Dr

Wu Lien-teh Wu Lien-teh (; Goh Lean Tuck and Ng Leen Tuck in Minnan and Cantonese transliteration respectively; 10 March 1879 – 21 January 1960) was a Malayan physician renowned for his work in public health, particularly the Manchurian plague of 1910 ...

and

Wu Lai Hsi Wu may refer to: States and regions on modern China's territory *Wu (state) (; och, *, italic=yes, links=no), a kingdom during the Spring and Autumn Period 771–476 BCE ** Suzhou or Wu (), its eponymous capital ** Wu County (), a former county i ...

, and

Rockefeller Fellowship The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carn ...

scholar and PUMC colleague, Dr Lim Chong Eang. The 'Nanyang Club' is an old house in Peiping, China and was used to provide convenient accommodation to overseas Chinese friends. After the

Second Sino-Japanese war The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific The ...

, Lim rebuilt China's medical education and medical research. He was a

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

in the Army and surgeon general of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeas ...

. In 1947, Lim reorganized the

National Defense Medical Center National Defense Medical Center (NDMC; ) is a ROC military affiliated medical school in Taipei, Taiwan. The NDMC is responsible for the training of military doctors, nurses and other medical personnel. History The former institute of the Nat ...

and served as its first president. He left for the United States in 1949. Lim was elected as a foreign member of

United States National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Natio ...

in 1942, and was elected a member in 1956. He was granted American citizenship in 1955.

Personal life

Lim married Margaret Torrance in Scotland in 1920. Following Torrance's death, he married Helen Tsing-ying Tsang in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

in 1946. In 1967, Lim was diagnosed with

esophageal cancer Esophageal cancer is cancer arising from the esophagus—the food pipe that runs between the throat and the stomach. Symptoms often include difficulty in swallowing and weight loss. Other symptoms may include pain when swallowing, a hoarse voic ...

. In 1969, Lim moved to Jamaica where his son lived at, to be with his family. Lim died on July 8, 1969.

References

External links

Robert Kho-Seng Lim, pages 280-307, Biographical Memoirs V.51 (1980), National Academy of Sciences (NAS)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lim, Robert 1897 births 1969 deaths Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Chinese military doctors Military personnel of the Republic of China Singaporean military doctors Singaporean people of Hokkien descent Emigrants to the United States from British Malaya Members of Academia Sinica Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Chinese physiologists Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of Edinburgh Singaporean expatriates in the United Kingdom 20th-century Chinese physicians American people of Chinese descent People with acquired American citizenship American physiologists