Forward December 2014 | Page 44

OLD GUILDFORDIANS George Cheng Yeoh Old Guildfordian of the Year 2014 With a life dedicated to the battle against cancer, George Cheng Yeoh BSc (Hons) PhD (Ha 1961-1964) has been selected as our Old Guildfordian of the Year 2014. Leading a very busy life, he is the newly elected President of Cancer Council Western Australia, the Associate Dean of Research at the University of Western Australia Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, as well as Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Faculty of Science. The remarkable work of his research laboratory has seen it build an international reputation as the first to demonstrate the presence of liver progenitor cells in human liver diseases linked to liver cancer. 44 George’s extraordinary journey includes being awarded the CJ Martin Overseas Research Fellowship, under the banner of the National Health and Medical Research Council, to study at the University of Pennsylvania, United States of America, and the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research, Scotland. His extensive expertise and the respect of his peers saw him elected as the inaugural President of the Australasian Society for Stem Cell Research. the University of Western Australia and Guildford Grammar School. It is true that George remains very humble about his achievements and he feels indebted for the opportunities that life has given him. At the recent Old Guildfordians Annual Dinner on 4 October 2014, at which George received his Old Guildfordian of the Year Award, he expressed tremendous gratitude for Australia, our fine state, While he is very thankful for his time at our School, in the beginning it was not certain George would be one of our students. His father failed with his initial attempts to enrol George and his older brother Cheng Ee (Freddie) Yeoh (Ha 1961-1963). The Headmaster at the time, David Lawe Davies (Staff 1957-1978), relayed the news that George Yeoh BSc (Hons) PhD is at the forefront of medical research in the fight against liver diseases. the School was fully booked for the next two years for those respective year groups. Even a letter from a good friend of George’s father, The Assistant Bishop of Singapore at the time, the Right Reverend Roland Koh, failed to find a space for the boys. This was a shame as George and Freddie’s school at the time, St. Ildephonsus’ College later known as New Norcia Catholic College, didn’t provide Biology as a subject, something George has obviously found to be a major passion in life. However, the persistence of George’s father eventually paid off and circumstances changed at Guildford Grammar School allowing both boys to attend. Supporting their enrolment was a letter from the Director/Headmaster of St Ildephonsus’ College, Brother Oswald Maher, describing the boys as “well behaved”, having “more than average ability” and being of a “studious type”. At the tender age of 14, even on George’s application form it was indicated that medicine was his likely career, a precursor for things to come.