Michigan to Korea: Arthur L. Becker

In 1903, the first scientist and educational missionary went from Michigan to Korea. In 1905, Arthur Becker, Methodist, and William Baird, Presbyterian, combined efforts to start the first college in Korea: Pyongyang 's Union Christian College (Soongsil) which was later re - established in Seoul after the war. In 1914, a new college for all Korea was planned by both missions and Becker took 20 of his advanced students to Seoul to start Chosen Christian College, now Yonsei University . He and his wife, Louise, gave nearly a half century of their lives to bring science and music to the young men and women of Korea. Becker lived through the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese annexation of Korea, and the Mansei Movement, as well as getting a Masters in Chemistry and a Ph.D. in Physics at the University of Michigan. This is his story.