After graduating from Seoul National University (SNU) with a major in zoology, he completed master's and doctorate courses at SNU's Graduate School. He obtained a Ph.D. from Princeton University in the United States and studied as a Post-Doctoral fellow at Roche and Wistar labs. Since 1974, he has served as a professor of microbiology at Seoul National University and served as the head of the Genetic Engineering Research Institute where his achievements in microbial cloning mechanisms have gained international acclaim. After the Korean Society for Molecular and Cellular Biology was founded, he served as the first vice-president and editor-inchief before becoming the society's third president. He contributed greatly to the internationalization of academic research by listing "Molecules and Cells" in the Science Citation Index (SCI). Additionally, he established the Mokam Life Science Award and Ilcheon Yi Ki-nyeong Memorial Lecture and held an English papers and editorial workshop. He is also the recipient of the Science and Technology Excellence Prize. |
Park, Sang-Dai, Professor Emeritus at Seoul National
University, is one of the founders of Korea Society of Molecular and Cellular Biology (KSMCB)
that was established on April 15, 1989. Prof. Park has been a pioneer in molecular and cellular
biology since 1966. He published several important articles on genomic instability caused by
chromosome aberrations, cell cycle delays, and abnormalities of DNA replication and repair.
Further, he discovered DNA-damage response proteins, which play a critical role in DNA damage
checkpoint by regulating DNA damage inducible genes. These findings greatly help the current
understanding of DNA double strand breaks-induced recombination repair.
Prof. Park has played a critical role in fostering the development and globalization of
molecular biology in Korea by serving as the President of KSMCB, President of Korean Federation
of Sciences & Technology Societies, and Vice-Chair of the Presidential Advisory Council on
Science & Technology of Korea. He received his B.S. in Biology from Seoul National University
and Ph.D. from St. John's University in the United States. Currently, he serves as a member of
the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) of Korea, a fellow of the Third World Academy of Sciences
(TWAS), and Vice President of the Pacific Science Association (PSA). He is the recipient of
numerous prestigious awards, including the 1st Korea Science Award, the Korean National Academy
of Sciences Award, and the Chanjo Medal, Order of Science & Technology Merit, Korea.
Introduced in 1994, the Ilchun memorial lecture commemorates late Professor Ki-Young Lee, a pioneer of Korean Molecular Biology. Outstanding Korean scientist in Korea or abroad is invited to the lecture. Except for 1999 and 2001-when the lecture was delivered every other year-the Ilchun memorial lecture speaker has delivered the lecture every year at the Annual Meeting of KSMCB. Candidates for the lecture are nominated by regular members of KSMCB, and the awardee is selected through a strict review by the Ilchun 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 graduating in 1936 from Kyung Sung Medical School, the origins of the Seoul National University Medical School, he started biochemical research in the Department of Biochemistry at Kyung Sung Medical School. His research continued after the 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 greatly contributed to and influenced science and education. In 1952, he revealed the possibility of classifying microorganisms based on genetic information, specifically using the difference of GC ratio, by paper chromatography method, during his study at the Pasteur Institute (Annales de L'institut Pasteur, 1956). He received his 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, such as the Prime Minister Award (1968), the Order of Civil Merit (1970), and the Order of Cultural Merit from France (1964), to name a 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. |
Since 2020, the society has given this award to the student who writes the best doctoral dissertation of the year. This prize is meant to encourage student researchers, and the awardee is given KRW 1,000,000 and a plaque. Candidates are recommended by members of KSMCB and the awardee is selected through a rigorous review process by the Academic Research Award Committee. This award is supported by the donations of Se Yong Lee, KSMCB president from 1989-1990.
He earned a Ph. D. from Wisconsin University in the United States, after graduating from Seoul National University with a degree in chemistry. After completing his postdoctoral fellowship at Yale and Tufts University, he served as an assistant professor at Brown University. In 1974, he returned to Korea and opened the county's first molecular biology lab. This lab has played a major role in the development of molecular and cellular biology in Korea. Since 1978, he has served as a professor at Korea University's Institute of Agricultural Science and Biotechnology and was also the first director of the Korean Society for Molecular and Cellular Biology. After the foundation of this society, he served as the first president, the chairman of the fund and on the academic committee. |