Yiau-Min Huang

Obituary of Yiau-Min Huang

Yiau-Min Huang, 85 of Rosslyn, Virginia passed away May 8th, 2023, peacefully in her home.

 

Yiau-Min was born January 1, 1938, in Putian, China and moved with her parents and siblings to Taipei, Taiwan and then to the United States. Yiau-Min devoted her time to science, entomology and the taxonomic study of mosquitoes. As an aspiring researcher, she joined the Smithsonian Institution in the 1960s as one of the original staff members of the Southeast Asian Mosquito Project – a project established between the Smithsonian and the US Army. Subsequently, she was a Research Associate for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and the Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit. Her career with the Smithsonian took her all over the world to meet colleagues, conduct field work and publish her research including over 50 scientific publications from 1968 to 2018. Even after Yiau-Min formally retired, she continued to conduct research and publish papers for the Smithsonian as well as tutor students and emerging researchers around the world.

 

Yiau-Min’s passion for research was exceeded only by her enjoyment of spending quality time with her two siblings and extended family in Houston and on the West Coast. A common theme of these family visits included enjoying her sister’s home cooking, listening to her brother’s stories and staying up late chatting in their local dialect. When family would visit Yiau-Min from out of town, the mandatory stops always included the Smithsonian Museum complex, the US National Arboretum and the Tidal Basin during the Cherry Blossom Festival. No visit would be complete without enjoying a meal at Peking Gourmet Inn in Falls Church!

 

Yiau-Min was preceded in death by her parents and older siblings, Jian Min and Shin Min.

 

Yiau-Min is survived by her sister-in-law, Jeannie, and her two children: Julie, William and wife Annie; and brother-in-law, Wei Chuan, and his three children: David and wife Heidi, Albert and wife Jamie and Martin.

 

In lieu of flowers, the family ask that memorials may be made by gifting a Smithsonian membership or supporting a youth program to inspire the next generation of students and researchers.

 

A private family funeral service will be held in Houston, Texas, at 10:00 am on Sunday, May 21, 2023, at Forest Park Westheimer Funeral Home. A memorial service will be scheduled in Virginia / Washington DC in the summer.

 

Arrangements entrusted to Advent Funeral Home in Falls Church, Virginia, and Forest Park Westheimer Funeral Home in Houston, Texas.

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