On February 1, Professor Young Min Baek was appointed as an assistant professor for the Division of Web Science and Technology. This is a rare occasion in KAIST’s 40-year history, as it is uncommon for a person who majored in a non-engineering field to be appointed as an engineering professor. This occasion can be considered as one of KAIST’s primary steps to erase the boundaries existing between various majors. According to KAIST, by amalgamating different majors together, it will be possible to establish more highly creative minds.

Professor Baek graduated from Yonsei University and attained his Master’s degree in journalism at Seoul National University and the University of Iowa. Then he received his Doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania, acknowledged by the National Research Council as one of the greater institutes from around the world in the field of journalism. For his Doctorate, Professor Baek studied communications between online communities and analyzed the effects of online group debates on online networks and the public as a whole.

During his time overseas, he received various awards, of which two are significantly notable. He received outstanding awards from two of the three world-famous journalism conferences: the Top Faculty Paper Award from the International Communication Association and the Top Student Paper Award from the National Communication Association.

On his appointment, Professor Baek commented, “Web Science is an interesting study where it is possible to understand human existence through the web.” He also added that he wishes to research on communication between people in the light of various perspectives and through macro-scale structure webs. Furthermore, with his findings he would like to illustrate contemporary society in a multilevel manner.

Professor Sung-Hyon Myaeng of the Division of Web Science and Technology said, “Professor Baek not only has the ability to analyze the web from an engineering perspective, but also from the social perspective. For creative and revolutionary research attempts to be made possible in terms of exchange with scholars from various departments such as Computer Science, there will be active support.”