Ronald Lees has made a donation to UNB in memory of his late wife, Li-Hong Xu. The $210,000 gift will establish the Lorenzo Society Li-Hong Xu Memorial Fund and provide funding for the Physics Xu/Lees Student Conference Travel Fund.
Xu (PhD’92) joined the physics department at UNB Saint John in 1994. She had a distinguished career as a teacher and researcher, notably serving from 2013 to 2016 at the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) as the group chair for physics, overseeing the granting programs for the entire Canadian physics community.
Internationally, Dr. Xu was well respected and had a keen interest in encouraging women in physics. She was also a representative at the International Conferences for Women in Physics in South Korea, South Africa and Canada, as well as lead author on a publication discussing women in physics in Canada.
She was very active within the Saint John community, serving as president of the Chinese Cultural Association of Saint John, founder and director of the Asian Heritage Society New Brunswick Saint John Chapter, member of the Saint John Community Arts Board and the Imperial Theatre Board, plus performing on violin with the school district Senior String Orchestra and Altomare community orchestra.
A three-time recipient of UNB's Merit Award, Dr. Lees received the university's excellence in teaching award and was honoured with the ranking of professor emeritus in physics at UNB in 1999. Since then, he has continued his research and part-time teaching in Dr. Xu’s laboratory on the Saint John campus.
During his 51 years at UNB, he has published more than 160 research papers in refereed journals and co-authored an even greater number of conference presentations. It is for his talent as a teacher, however, that he is remembered by thousands of former students.
As an accomplished scientist, Li-Hong recognized the importance of music. An active violinist, she was also a strong supporter of various music community programs and was responsible for the joining of Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick’s Heartbeat choir with UNB’s faculty, staff and students.
“Music was important to Li-Hong,” says Dr. Lees. “She had served as the director of Lorenzo Music for several years and ran the concert series. I thought supporting the program and helping to preserve it would be a fitting legacy for her.”
The Lorenzo Society Li-Hong Xu Memorial Fund has been established to provide funding for the Lorenzo Society, with preference for supporting the musical activities with which Dr. Xu was closely associated. In recognition of the support, the Lorenzo Society will host an annual concert in memory of Li-Hong Xu.
“Li-Hong was active in the Science Atlantic physics committee and was devoted to promoting women in science,” says Dr. Lees. “She saw first hand the benefit of having undergraduate students participate in these conferences to continue to build their enthusiasm.”
“Departments don’t always have the type of budgets where they can afford to send students to these conferences. By providing a little bit of help in her memory, maybe we can make a huge difference and continue her legacy long into the future.”
Dr. Lees has also generously established the Xu/Lees Student Conference Travel Fund to support and encourage students to attend the Canadian and Atlantic undergraduate physics conferences held annually.
