JBNU faculty have enhanced the university's reputation by producing notable achievements across diverse areas, including external academic society activities, regional development, talent cultivation, and research.

Professor Yoon Myung-sook (Department of Social Welfare) was recently elected president of the Korean Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation. Professor Yoon will serve through 2014 and plans to take the lead in policy development and research activities related to psychosocial rehabilitation.
Professor Yoon said, “During my two-year term I will actively pursue the development of national policies, research, and program discovery related to suicide, stress, and addiction to promote mental health in our country. In particular, I will strive to attract the International Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation conference, scheduled for 2015, to Korea.”

Professor Lee Nam-ho (Department of Wood Science and Technology), College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, was honored with the 17th Proud Jeonbuk Person Award (Academic and Media Division).
While serving as Vice-President of Industry-University Cooperation at JBNU from 2009 for three years and four months, Professor Lee made a major contribution to ushering in an era in which annual research funding secured by a regional university reached the 100 billion won mark. He further contributed to JBNU ranking first among flagship national universities by securing research funding of 117.5 billion won and 124.4 billion won in 2010 and 2011, respectively.
In particular, he attracted and established large-scale research and academic promotion projects such as the High-enthalpy Plasma Research Center, collaboration with the U.S. Los Alamos National Laboratory, the IT Convergence Next-Generation Agricultural Machinery Comprehensive Technology Support Project, and Leading Research Centers (ERCs). Through these efforts, he helped build the research and academic foundation not only for JBNU but also for Jeollabuk-do, and he significantly contributed to laying the research and academic groundwork supporting the province's strategic industry development. He also provided multifaceted support to enable four humanities and social science research institutes at JBNU to be listed as candidate journals in the National Research Foundation of Korea, and he initiated some 20 new academic promotion projects—such as a Seoul guest house, public official taxis, and indirect-cost mileage—that played a major role in upgrading the research competitiveness of JBNU and Jeollabuk-do.

JBNU professors were also recognized with national decorations and Presidential citations for their contributions to regional development. Professor Chae Byung-seon (Department of Urban Engineering), who received the Order of Service Merit, and Professor Seol Kyung-won (Division of Advanced Materials Engineering · Director of the LINC Project Group), who received a Presidential Citation, are among the recipients.

First, Professor Chae received the Order of Service Merit in recognition of his contributions to the development of the broader economic region. While serving as Chair of the Urban Vitality Subcommittee of the Presidential Committee on Regional Development and as leader of the Regional Development Project Evaluation Advisory Group, Professor Chae worked with some 90 evaluators as well as government ministries and local governments to review the processes and outcomes of regional development budget execution and to propose improvements and alternatives by sector, earning recognition for his contributions to the development of the wider economic region.

Professor Seol, director of the LINC Project Group, likewise received a Presidential Citation for his contributions to regional development and talent cultivation. Director Seol was recognized for revitalizing the regional economy and improving student employment rates through the establishment of industry–university–research–government networks for the industrial development of the Honam macro-region. He systematically implemented programs such as micro-track development, activation of startup incubators, a renewable energy education accreditation system, and field-centered professional training, and he significantly increased employment rates by linking high-quality companies with students. Recently, centered on the LINC Project Group, he has expanded initiatives by forming the Jeonbuk Regional Employment Support Council to pursue both workforce development to revive the regional economy and the provision of skilled personnel to local industries.

In addition, the Obesity Research Center received the Minister of Health and Welfare's Award on October 11 in recognition of its contributions to obesity prevention and management on the occasion of the 3rd Obesity Day. The Ministry of Health and Welfare cited the Obesity Research Center at JBNU for establishing a multidisciplinary system combining medicine, nutrition, exercise, and public health, and for contributing to national obesity prevention and management through efficient and differentiated program operations.
Established in 2007, the Obesity Research Center has continuously operated student obesity camps and obesity management projects in cooperation with the Jeollabuk-do Office of Education, regional public health centers, and schools, and it has been well received for implementing metabolic syndrome management programs for middle-aged women through Jeollabuk-do's regionally specialized health promotion projects.
Recently, the center has also actively engaged in outstanding obesity-prevention research, including the development of a morning roll containing tangerine peel and verification of its bioactive effects, a product-standardization research survey project for the SK Happy Lunchbox social franchise, and human application trials on the metabolic syndrome–improving effects of traditional fermented soybean pastes.

The Department of Urology team from the Medical School led by Professor Kim Hyung-jin also received the Outstanding Paper Award at the 25th Annual Meeting of the Korean Society of Urologic Oncology. Conducted in collaboration with Professor Kim Myung-ki, Professor Jung Young-beom, and clinical fellow Shin Yu-seop, the study demonstrated that intravesical epirubicin instillation therapy after bladder cancer surgery can prevent postoperative recurrence. The Korean Society of Urologic Oncology praised the study as readily applicable in clinical practice.