Ruy Pérez Tamayo (8 November 1924 – 26 January 2022) was a Mexican medical pathologist, immunologist, researcher, science communicator and academic.

Born in Tampico, Pérez Tamayo graduated in medicine and specialised in pathology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and then got a doctorate in immunology from the Instituto Politécnico Nacional in Mexico City.

[2] He was the author of over 150 scientific articles and over 60 books, and had an important role in popularizing science to the Mexican general public.

[2] During his life Pérez Tamayo was the recipient of several awards and accolades, including the National Prize for Arts and Sciences, the Juchimán de Plata Award and the Menéndez Pelayo International Prize.

[1] He was also a member of the Academia Mexicana de la Lengua since 1986,[2] as well as of El Colegio Nacional and of the Advisory Council of Sciences of the Presidency of the Republic.