Y.C. "Bert" Fung: the father of modern biomechanics.

It is a great fortune to have Professor Y.C. Fung as the Honorary Editor for the journal “Mechanics and Chemistry of Biosystems”. It is also my great fortune that Professor Satya Atluri (Editor-in-Chief) has asked me to write a tribute to Dr. Fung and his contributions to mechanics of biosystems or biomechanics. In casting off the first volume of the journal, this dedication is most appropriate since it is the intent of the Editors to publish articles that follow in the strong tradition of biomechanics set forth by Dr. Fung. Dr. Fung’s contributions span the fields of bio-fluid and bio-solid mechanics and have touched upon nearly every mechanical organ system in physiology. He has authored nearly 300 publications and 3 books, and is the editor of 6 additional books on biomechanics (see References). It is, of course, impossible to describe all of Dr. Fung’s contributions to the field of biomechanics in the allotted space. In this tribute, I will briefly describe some of the highlights of the past four golden decades.