ADELINE YEN MAH
ROBERT MAH
FOUNDERS
FALLING LEAVES FOUNDATION
WHO: Professor Robert Mah and Dr. Adeline Yen Mah in 2007 established the Falling Leaves Foundation to promote research such as the understanding of RNA functions and its applications in technology.
WHY: The foundation donated $30M in 2021 to University of California, Irvine for a planned state-of-the-art, 215,000-square-foot medical research facility to expand the global reach and impact of the campus’ advanced cross-disciplinary teaching and translational research achievements. The building is set to be completed in April 2025.
NOTABLE: Adeline, who became a doctor and practiced in Orange County, is the author of “Falling Leaves: The Memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter,” about growing up in China during the Communist Revolution. Blamed for her mother’s death, ignored by her rich father and unwanted by her Eurasian stepmother, the book, sometimes known as the “Asian Mommie Dearest,” became a bestseller with more than 1 million copies sold.
Her husband, Robert, is a prestigious professor at University of California, Los Angeles with two species and a genus named after him for his research on anaerobic archaebacteria.
IN THEIR WORDS: “The future of medicine is being advanced at an unbelievable rate. Eventually, every disease will be treatable. We are at the dawn of a therapeutic revolution.” —Adeline Yen Mah
