EVEN when she was on her deathbed, Dr Jennifer Mao's mind was on her colleagues and students.
Associate Professor Lan Luh Luh said the late National University of Singapore (NUS) finance and economics professor had asked colleagues who were by her bedside: 'Is there anything else I can do for you, or the students?'
The professor, who died in 2004 of breast cancer at the age of 51, was one of 16 academics and administrators honoured on Saturday - and the only posthumous award winner - at the inaugural NUS Inspiring Mentor Awards.
The awards are to recognise faculty members for the impact they made on the lives and careers of the university's students. All recipients are nominated by the alumni.
On Saturday, Dr Mao's god-brother Chew Soo Hong, a professor at the Hong Kong University of Science Technology, collected the award on her behalf.
Prof Lan said the late Dr Mao, a Taiwanese-born Singapore permanent resident, was a teacher who always put her students first.
In her last days, she told colleagues that if they were going to set up any fund in her name, she did not want it to be a scholarship fund, but a bursary fund for needy students.
