Carl Ferris Miller

Carl Ferris Miller (1921–2002), also known by the Korean name Min Byung-gal , was an American-born South Korean banker and arborist. Dr CF Miller is the best known as the founder of the Chollipo Arboretum Foundation in Taean County, South Chungcheong Province, South Korea, and one of the first Americans to be naturalized as a South Korean citizen.

Early life Miller, a native of Pittston, Pennsylvania, was a Phi Beta Kappa chemistry major in college.

Chollipo Arboretum During a 1962 swimming trip, a weekend getaway from Seoul, Miller was persuaded by a cash-poor, land-rich villager into buying a barren plot of land near the fishing village of Chollipo in Taean County. It sat idle until 1970, when, disgusted by Seoul's worsening air pollution, Mr. Miller moved his traditional Korean house from its Seoul location to his seaside retreat.

When Miller settled at his new seaside retreat, he decided it needed some trees. He planted a few and then a few more. More villagers approached him to buy their land, so he did—and then he planted more trees. He later said he had had no idea he would create an arboretum recognized by international horticultural societies, no idea that he would give up his nationality and no idea he would be awarded the highest honor the South Korean government can bestow on a civilian. He just wanted to plant a few trees.

Today the arboretum boasts a collection of millions of examples of the more than 13,200 species of trees and plants that Mr. Miller spent 40 years collecting, growing and cultivating. In addition, the arboretum grounds are home to traditional tile-roofed wooden houses called hanok that he moved there and renovated. In 2005, Miller posthumously became the fifth person awarded the Forest Hall of Fame Award for the contribution of the Chollipo Arboretum to South Korea's forestry sector. The International Dendrology Society picked the Chollipo Arboretum as the world's 12th site to be given an Arboretum Distinguished for Merit (the first to be so recognized in Asia) and the Holly Society of America named it the Official Holly Arboretum.