Autumn Issue, 2017

In 1997, Professor Morton was made a Knight (Ridder) in the Most Excellent Order of the Golden Ark (The Netherlands) for contributions to environmental education; in 1999 awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for contributing to marine ecology in southern China and in 2004, the sole recipient of the Duke of Edinburgh Conservation Gold Medal. He was awarded Honorary Life Memberships of the Malacological Society of London in 1992, the Pacific Science Association in 1993 and the Marine Biological Association of Hong Kong in 2002 for his contributions to Malacology, Pacific Marine Science and Marine Biology in Hong Kong, respectively, and in 1989 elected to the Global 500 Roll of Honour by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). “ I have been very lucky to be a grand-student of Professor Morton (as I was an MPhil student of Professor Rudolf Wu) and his colleague at HKU a year before his retirement. He has been my inspiring role model in pursuing science with great passion in marine conservation. He is one of the most hard-working and productive professors I have ever met. He taught me his golden rule of becoming a successful scientist, he said, ‘A good scientist shall write up his research at least two pages per day (or draw a scientific diagram daily)’. He continues this practice even after retirement. I really enjoy reading his autobiography, from which I learn a lot of his untold stories, including his real family name (via his genealogy) and his first love as well as the colourful journey of his life before retirement. May I wish him good health and more blessings to come. I look forward to seeing him at HKU or his house in Littlehampton in the UK again in the near future. ” Professor Kenneth Leung The Swire Institute of Marine Science School of Biological Sciences Professor Brian Morton is the Founding Director of The Swire Institute of Marine Science (SWIMS) until his retirement in 2003. 75 Class Notes