Statue of late Professor Mctaggart of the Department of English Language and Literature installed
‘An educator who loved Korea more than Koreans’
Practiced true love by donating 260 million won in scholarships to over 200 students
[December 10, 2012]
YU (president Lee, Hyo-soo) installed a statue of the upper body (photo) of
the late Dr. Arthur Joseph Mctaggart (1915~2003), who showed true love as a great teacher while serving as a professor of the Department of English Language and Literature for over 20 years, to remember him.
The unveiling ceremony of his statue was held at 11am on the 8th with the attendance of YU president Lee, Hyo-soo, College of Liberal Arts Dean Lee, Jeong-hi, president of the Youngwoo Association Noh, Tae-hyeon, Yeo, Eung-mo (Boeing), Park, Myung-deok (KGC), Lee, Sang-gam (Cheong-do Punggak Middle School), Park, Young-ho (Daegu Convention & Visitors Bureau), and over 50 of Dr. Mctaggart's students and acquaintances. Dr. Mctaggart's students organized the Dr. Mctaggart Memorial Association in light of his 10th year memorial for July of next year and built the statue by raising 25 million won.
Choi, Byung-man, a teacher at Daeyeoung Middle School in Yeongju who ate and slept together with Dr. Mctaggart for two years, stated in the unveiling ceremony, "I clearly remember that day when I was going off to my new position at work and Dr. Mctaggart handed me a yellow envelope telling me to use it for a room and food until I get my first paycheck." He also added, "He will always be remembered as my teacher and I will strive to become a teacher that lives up to his name."
This statue was erected at the first floor of the Humanities Hall and it depicts his generous appearance. Dr. Mctaggart was known as 'an educator who loved Korea more than Koreans' and made his first ties in Korea while working at the US Embassy in Korea as a finance officer for the US Department of State. After retiring from the US Department of State in 1976, he was immediately appointed as a professor at the YU Department of English Language and Literature. Until the day he retired from YU, he donated 260 million won in scholarships to over 200 of his students. Subtracting about 300,000 won a month for minimal expenses, he gave up his entire salary and pension for scholarships.
He was very generous to his students and even sold a painting by Lee, Jung-seob to donate more for scholarships, but to himself, he was very stingy. He would just brush away the mold from bread and eat it, and even walked long distances to save on bus fees. He also used whatever personal time he had to give free English lessons, setting an example for modest and clean lifestyles.
After retiring from YU in 1997, he returned to the US, but showed his love for Korea until he passed away in July, 2003. He
recovered a total of 482 cultural artifacts that were exported to the US such as Korean celadon and porcelain from various eras, as well as 380 earthenwares from the Silla, Gaya and Unified Silla Period, and pe
rmanently donated them to the National Museum of Korea in 2000. Because of this, he was also awarded with the Korea Order of Culture Merit.
