Professor emeritus Soo-Won Kim donates KRW 200 million to KU college of engineering.
Before leaving his alma mater, Kim encourages his students to donate to the university instead of preparing a farewell gift for him. 

Professor Soo-Won Kim, who retired in February 2017, has donated KRW 200 million won to the KU College of Engineering, where he worked for 30 years. 

The donation ceremony took place on March 20 in Inchon Chamber, located in KU’s Main Hall. Kim, who was the former Executive Vice President for Research and Professor Emeritus at the School of Electrical Engineering, made his 200-million-won donation in two separate tranches: 100 million in December 2016 and the remaining 100 million in February 2017. His donation was all the more meaningful as 54.8 million of the total was gathered by students who wanted to commemorate the retirement of their respected teacher.

Professor Emeritus Kim told the behind-the-scenes story. “There is an old custom that students give a gift to their retiring teacher as a token of appreciation. Rather than following it, I suggested that they make a donation to the university instead of buying anything for me.” He continued, “I got great support from many of my students, who agreed with me on the idea that donating would help the development of our alma mater and the younger generations who will come to our school someday. I feel really satisfied that with the support of these students I have been able to make a different level of contribution to the school as I leave.”

Professor Kim and his wife Sun-yeong Lim (1970, Department of Mathematics) attended the ceremony. The following faculty members also took part in order to express their gratitude to the professor: Jaeho Yeom, KU President; Jin Taek Chung, Dean of the College of Engineering; Dong Hoon Choi, Vice President for Strategy; Man Seop Park, Vice President for Academic Affairs; Jae Hak Lee, Vice President for Student Affairs; Kisung Lee, Vice President for Administration and Finance; Jinsoo Joo, Vice President for Campus Planning; Byung Hyun Yoo, Vice President for Development and External Affairs and Vice President for Capital Planning; Chan Woo Yang, Vice President for Admissions; Jesang Ko, President for Research and Business Foundation; and Yong Chan Kim, Vice President for Research Planning.

The donation will supplement the construction fund of the New Engineering Hall. Jin Taek Chung, Dean of the College of Engineering, expressed his special thanks to the Professor Emeritus for his financial support. “The New Engineering Hall is where the College of Engineering's cutting edge innovations are being constantly created. Even very late at night, I see lights on in the building. To professors who have taught at the university for many years, those lights shine as brightly as the future of our school does, particularly when people like Professor Emeritus Kim show such generosity,” he said. 

Kim matriculated into the Department of Electrical Engineering in Korea University in 1970. After earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the university, he entered the Graduate School of Texas A&M University to pursue a doctoral degree in electrical engineering. In 1987 he became a professor at the School of Electrical, Electronic and Electric Wave Engineering at Korea University. As an expert in circuit design, he served as a consultant to various government organizations such as the then Ministry of Information and Communication, the Research Institute of Manufacturing Technology at the then Ministry of Trade and Industry, and the Presidential Advisory Council on Policy and Planning. In recognition of his contribution to the advancement of the semi-conductor industry in Korea, he received a medal for his role in industrial-academic cooperation at the 7th Innovation Technology Show in 2006. He also held major positions at Korea University, namely Director of the Semiconductor Research Institute, Dean of the College of Engineering and Dean of the Graduate School of Engineering, and he served as Executive Vice President for Research from March 2015 to February 2017. Currently, he is working as Vice President of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers; as an expert advisor at the National Science and Technology Council; as Head of the Korea University Green Manufacturing Center (KUGMC) Project Establishment Team; and as President of KU Mirae Co.,LTD.

KU President Jaeho Yeom highly praised Kim for his years of great service. “Professor Emeritus Kim contributed hugely to the development of our university through his superb work at the Office of Research Planning, the Korea University Research and Business Foundation, and of course the College of Engineering. In addition to his long service, his donation is extraordinarily generous, as for many years he saved some of his monthly salary in order to offer these funds to our university. We assure you that his donation will be used to nurture creative leaders in the field of engineering,” he concluded.