Professor Gill-Chin Lim died as the result of a car crash on February 9, 2005. He served as the Dean of MSU’s International Studies and Programs from 1991-1995 and was responsible for establishing the Visiting International Professional Program, one of CVIP’s strong supporters at MSU. Since Dr. Lim’s death, much has been written regarding his many accomplishments. Rather than reiterate these here, we would like to honor his memory with a few recollections of his interaction with CVIP.

At the time Dr. Lim became Dean, CVIP was holding our annual International Fair in the Crossroads Café, on the main floor of the International Center. When CVIP asked Dean Lim for some funding for the event, he readily agreed. However, he "sug-gested" a new name for the event, "Global Festival." No one in CVIP was exactly thrilled with the idea, but we went along with it. Dean Lim encouraged us to think "big," and as a result, we moved the Global Festival from the International Center to the MSU Student Union. The rest is history. Our "Global" Festival is the showpiece of CVIP’s activities every year.

Dr. Lim was a generous and enthusiastic supporter of CVIP and its activities. At our Annual Luncheon in May 1996, we awarded him a CVIP Certificate of Appreciation, an excerpt from which follows:

"…Each year, he saw to it that CVIP was adequately funded and that its activities such as the annual Global Festival were also supported out of his office…It is not only for his generous help in budgetary matters that we honor Dr. Lim today, but also for his personal involvement with CVIP. He never failed to bolster our efforts with his enthusiastic encouragement and kind praise. As volunteers, we were glad to hear that he considered our work worthwhile and that it was appreciated by the University. Dr. Lim was also on hand to participate in our activities whenever possible as a speaker. Once he returned from a university business trip just to give a welcoming address at the Global Festival; then, he climbed right back on a plane the same evening to continue his trip…"

Dr. Lim’s often told us that he "will always be a member of CVIP." And as long as he lived, he was.