POSTECH Appoints Its Ninth President
The POSTECH Foundation (Chairman Jeong-Woo Choi) appointed Dr. Seong Keun Kim (b. 1957), the chairman of Samsung Science and Technology Foundation, as the ninth president of POSTECH. The decision was made at the second board of trustees meeting of the 2023 academic year held on June 15, 2023. Dr. Kim succeeds President Moo Hwan Kim whose term expires on August 31, 2023.
On the appointment of the new president, the board remarked, “We believe that Dr. Seong Keun Kim possesses the leadership that POSTECH needs at this time of transition as it leaps forward to become a world-class research university.”
Dr. Kim received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Seoul National University in 1980 and completed his PhD in chemical physics at Harvard University in 1987. He served as an assistant professor, associate professor, and professor in the Department of Chemistry at Seoul National University from 1989 to 2022.
In recognition of his outstanding research in physical chemistry, Dr. Kim was named the inaugural national scholar by the Ministry of Education and Human Resources of Korea in 2006, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) in 2013, and the first non-European to serve as editor-in-chief of Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics (PCCP), one of the world’s top three journals on physical chemistry. He served as the dean of College of Natural Sciences at Seoul National University for four years from 2014, enhancing its international status by improving the student learning environment and expanding its research infrastructure. Since 2019, Dr. Kim has served as chairman of the Samsung Science and Technology Foundation, contributing to nurturing talented young researchers by providing opportunities to engage in challenging and creative research.
The board announced, “We believe that the new president Seong Keun Kim is the right person to propel POSTECH into the future, as a leader with great character who drives change and innovation.” The board added, “With the appointment of the new president, we hope that all members of POSTECH – including the foundation, faculty, staff, students, and alumni – will work together to fulfill POSTECH’s founding tenets and strive to become a world-class university.”
The new president’s term in office is four years from September 1, 2023 to August 31, 2027.