함인섭 咸仁燮
Agronomist and educator, sixth Minister of Agriculture and Forestry and first dean of Chuncheon Agricultural College, predecessor of Kangwon National University; grandson of Ham Tae-young
| Life | 1907 ~ 1986 |
| Era | 일제강점기~대한민국 |
| Clan | 강릉 함씨 |
Life & career
Ham In-seop (咸仁燮, 1907-1986) was an agronomist and educator of the Gangneung clan, born in Cheonan, South Chungcheong (sources differ on the birth date, 3 May or 6 March). He was a grandson of Vice President Ham Tae-young; his father Ham Byeong-cheol is said to have been a judge in the Korean Empire and a Presbyterian pastor under colonial rule. After Joongdong school he studied in Japan, graduating from the Tokyo University of Agriculture in 1933 and earning a doctorate in agriculture from its graduate school in 1962.
In the 1930s he was a staff member and professor at Yonhi College and ran a farm himself for seven years; in September 1945 he worked at the US Army Military Government's agriculture bureau. Noting that Gangwon Province had no university, he led the 1946 founding committee of Chuncheon Agricultural College, won approval from the military government in June 1947, saw it open in 1948 and became its first dean in August 1949. He led efforts to secure roughly 200,000 pyeong of campus land and to build an academic forest.
He served as sixth Minister of Agriculture and Forestry from March to August 1952, working on land compensation but resigning over the tungsten-dollar affair; Wikipedia also presents a view that he was a victim of that affair. Returning as dean of Chuncheon Agricultural College, he became first dean of Kangwon National University when it was reorganized in 1970 and retired in 1972. He specialized in soybean cultivation and breeding and received the Dongbaek Order in 1970 and the Moran Order in 1972. He died in Chuncheon in 1986. Having no property, he had no house of his own until students and staff raised funds for one; after his death a memorial plaza was laid out on the Kangwon campus and a statue was erected in 2010.
Founding Chuncheon Agricultural College
He led the founding committee in October 1946, won approval in June 1947 and saw the college open in 1948 (the opening is dated to 1 February or August depending on the source). It was made an agricultural college in light of the farming character of the region.
Commemoration
A Ham In-seop memorial plaza stands on the Kangwon National University campus, and a statue was erected in 2010 for the university's 63rd anniversary. The photograph shows that statue.
Grave
His tomb is said to be in a public cemetery in Chuncheon.
Descendants
Wikipedia lists his children and a grandson, whose names are omitted here as private. His uncle was Ham Byeong-chun and his cousins Ham Jae-bong and Ham Jae-hak.