From a boy in the mountain village of Geumsan to a professor at JBNU, the late Professor Kim Je-hwan grew with the university and served it for 35 years. His life and service records will remain as a valuable part of the university's history.

JBNU Archives and History Museum (Director Lee Jeong-hwan) announced that it received school history materials of the late Professor Kim Je-hwan, who served at JBNU's College of Agriculture for 35 years. The donor is the late professor's son, Kim Yun-sang, representative of Jeonbuk Cultural Walk. Mr. Kim donated the university-related materials that the late professor had treasured throughout his life to fulfill his father's wishes.

The materials donated this time include appointment letters, pay envelopes, salary statements, syllabi, plaques of appreciation, and national orders that the late Professor Kim collected and preserved while employed at JBNU from 1962 to 1997. The records also include documents that trace his personal development, such as an elementary school graduation certificate issued in 1946 and JBNU master's and doctoral diplomas.

These materials are significant because they allow a detailed examination not only of one professor’s life but also of JBNU's administration, educational practices, and faculty life at the time. In particular, administrative notes and memos handwritten by the late professor throughout the materials are regarded as valuable school history records that vividly show the university's operations and daily life at that time.

The late Professor Kim Je-hwan formed his ties with JBNU when he entered the College of Agriculture in 1952 after graduating from Iri Agricultural School the same year. He served as an agricultural technician at the College of Agriculture in 1962, was appointed a teaching assistant, began as a full-time lecturer in 1969, and devoted himself to teaching and research until his retirement in 1997.

A specialist in genetics and breeding, he operated an ant farm in Bongdong, Wanju County, connecting research with field practice. He also demonstrated his deep affection for the university by donating trees he had carefully tended throughout his life to JBNU.

JBNU plans to newly open an Archives and History Museum to commemorate the university's 80-year history in the second half of 2026. The materials donated this time will be exhibited in the museum after internal review and cataloging.

Lee Jeong-hwan, Director of the Archives and History Museum, said, "We are deeply grateful for the donation of these precious records accumulated in an individual's life. We expect these records to enrich the university's history. We also intend to share the educational value that the histories of individual members together form the larger history of the university, and to use them as a foundation to prepare for a new leap forward together with the local community."