Introduced in 1994, the Ilchun Memorial Lecture commemorates late Professor Ki-Young Lee, a pioneer of Korean molecular biology. Except 1999 and 2001, when the lecture was given every other year, the lecture has been given every year by the keynote speaker at the Annual Meeting of KSMCB. Candidates of the lecture have been recommended by the KSMCB regular member and the awardee is selected by the strict review from the Academic Research Awards Committee.
Ilchon is the pseudonym of the late Dr. and Professor Ki-Young Lee, one of the pioneers of biochemistry and molecular biology research in Korea. After graduated from Kyung Sung Medical School, where the Seoul National University Medical School originated, in 1936, he started biochemical research in the Department of Biochemistry at Kyung Sung Medical School. His research continued after restoration of independence as a full professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the Seoul National University Medical School. For 33 years until his retirement, he contributed and influenced in great deal to science and education. In 1952, he revealed the possibility of classifying microorganisms based on the genetic information, specifically using the information in difference of GC ratio, by paper chromatography method during his study at the Pasteur Institute (Annales de L'institut Pasteur, 1956). He received Ph.D from the University de Paris in 1956 and returned to continue studies in genomic DNA, such as nucleotide ratio and repetitive sequences, which initiated molecular biology research in Korea. For his work, he received numerous awards, Prime Minister Award (1968), the Order of Civil Merit (1970) and the Order of Cultural Merit from France (1964) to name few. He was a member of the Korea National Academy of Science and honorary professor at the Seoul National University until he passed away in January 2002. |