Huang (center, front row) on a hiking trip with his students. [Photo/Xinhua]

He was welcomed back to China in 2009 through the country's Thousand Talents program that seeks to recruit world-class innovators, who are overseas Chinese and foreign nationals, to work in China. The program was initiated the year before.

President Xi Jinping praised his achievements and spirit in May.

The last time Huang saw his daughter was in May 2016, when she got married in London.

"We danced. That was our first dance together-and the last," media quoted her as saying.

Huang lost his father while he was working 1,000 meters below the ocean's surface in 2004.

And Huang postponed his own medical exams to honor the commitments of his hectic schedule.

"He rarely mentioned his illness," Jilin University's deputy head Han Xiaofeng says.

"He retained his passion for his team's projects. He cherished his research more than life."

Huang typically worked into the wee hours and caught flights at the last minute, colleagues say.

It was tiring but meaningful for his driver Liu Guoqiu.