Youn Ha

Dr. Youn Won "Ewan" Ha of Mebane, North Carolina passed away surrounded by family on Saturday, June 13, 2026 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He was 74 years old. Ewan was born in Chungmu, South Korea on February 10, 1952 to Kap Jong Ha and Young Won Kim. A lifelong scholar with an insatiable curiosity and passion for learning, he earned a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science and later earned his Master of Science in Dairy Technology at Seoul National University. Ewan met his future wife, Jung Sun Ha (Kim), on a blind date in 1978 and they married in early 1979 and began a devoted partnership.

In March of 1980, Ewan and Jung were blessed with their son, Jihoon "Jay". In 1982, the family moved to Michigan where he graduated with his Masters in Food Science and Technology from Michigan State University. During this time, Ewan and Jung were blessed with their eldest daughter, Sue Kyung Ha in October of 1984. The family later moved to South Carolina, where he attended Clemson University and earned his PhD in Food Science with a minor in Plant Physiology in 1989. After a move to Illinois that same year, they were blessed with their youngest Elizabeth Suejean Ha. It was there, he did his Postdoctoral Research, Carbohydrate Research at Fermentation Biochemistry Group.

After a short stint in Iowa, he continued his education in Ohio in the early 1990s. After completing his Postdoctoral Research in Food Technology at Ohio State University, the family moved to Plainsboro, New Jersey, where he worked at FMC. It was there that Ewan worked with Carol Landi to help create and patent the steam explosion method to produce Microcrystalline Cellulose (MCC). One of his dreams was to someday make artificial ivory out of MCC, so the harvesting of elephant tusks for ivory could be stopped.

In 1996, the family moved to Twin Falls, Idaho, where he was the Director of R&D at Avonmore. He left Avonmore and started his own company, Functional Ingredients Research Inc, providing services such as importing, exporting and consulting. Ewan was able to help many different well known companies with their formulas. He was a respected dairy ingredient consultant for the US Dairy Export Council. His expertise took him around the world conducting seminars and consultations to Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, South Korea, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and China.

Besides work, volunteering was a core part of Ewan’s life. Since 2000, he has volunteered internationally though US AID Projects as a food processing, post harvest expert, and dairy processing specialist in countries including India, Georgia, Liberia, Mali, Egypt, Lebanon, Moldova, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, and El Salvador. His dedication to humanitarian and agricultural development earned him Presidential Volunteer Service Awards in 2004 and 2006. Ewan was a member of the Board of Directors for the Twin Falls, Idaho YMCA and Twin Falls Kiwanis Club. In 2006, he received the Member of the Year award. He served as Technical Director for the US Dairy Export Association, where he lectured in over 10 countries.

In 2008, Ewan and Jung moved to Minnesota since Ewan became the Vice President of R&D for Protient, a multinational dairy ingredient company. He later went on to work for Grasslands as a Technical Advisor for the Chairman.

Ewan’s faith journey began when he was a child. Though no one else in his family attended church, he was called to find and attend one on his own. Through his faith journey, his family were called to Christ and his sister eventually became a pastor. After he moved to Iowa, he was called to lead bible study groups for high school students and eventually young adults in New Jersey and driving students while pursuing his education. Throughout his faith journey, he served as a choir member, a deacon, and an elder.

In 2022, Ewan and Jung and his two daughters and their families moved to North Carolina, where he joined Hanmaum Church and continued his passion of singing with the choir. His love of music extended beyond church as he often sang and played guitar and piano for his family, friends, and even strangers, bringing joy to those around him. He especially loved serenading his wife.

Ewan enjoyed his work as an SQF Senior Lead Auditor, An FSPCA Lead Instructor, FSVP Lead Instructor, HACCP Lead Instructor, and as well as his role as founder and Chief Scientific Officer of BuenoProtein dba Functional Ingredients Research. His side projects included microbiome, proteomics, longevity, nutritional epigenetics, 50 years of bioactive innovation: metabolic cross-feeding and ‘bio-shield’, and more. Prior to his passing, he was planning on speaking at the International Milk Genomic Conference in September. He loved to work and keep his mind active and was blessed to be able to do all of this until he was called to Heaven.

Ewan had a passion for gardening that resulted in great harvests every year. He loved to help his family and friends with their gardens as well. He also loved to experiment with different foods and recipes, making them healthier. Some memorable experiments included chocolate, angel food cake, cheesecake, various muffins, breads, and other foods.

Ewan was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather. While Ewan and Jung’s children were growing up, he made it a priority to take as many family trips as he could, whether it be road trips, camping, hiking, rafting, fishing, water parks, museums, theme parks, and so much more.

Ewan loved to learn, he took every chance possible to learn something new. He loved to share his love of learning with his family and friends. He would teach his granddaughters math tips and tricks and then would quiz them on it. He spoke about his trick for memorizing the periodic table in Korean and how he could teach others his method. Ewan was a brilliant man whose thirst for knowledge, love for teaching, and sharing knowledge was endless.

Ewan is survived by his beloved wife of 47 years, Jung Ha; his three children, Jay (Carlene), Sue (Steve) Knott, Liz Ha (Clayton) Anderson; grandchildren, Sunny Knott, Sophie Knott, Sadie Knott, Zoey Anderson, brother Jung Won Ha, sister Hye Sook Ha, and three nephews. Ewan was preceded in death by his parents, Kap Jong and Young Won.