The KAIST Herald warmly welcomes you as the newly inaugurated president of our university. Could you introduce yourself to our readers?
It is my honor and privilege to join KAIST as the 15th president. After completing my Ph.D. program at the University of California (UC), Berkeley, I moved to New Jersey to teach at Rutgers University. After two years, I joined AT&T Bell Laboratories, where I was engaged in research and development of 32-bit complementary metal-oxide semiconductor microprocessors. In January 2001, I moved to UC Merced and served as its second chancellor for over four years. It was extremely challenging during the financially most difficult period to build the new School of Engineering on the tenth campus of the University of California System.

KAIST has made exchanges with prominent institutions in the past. Why were Oxford and UC Irvine particularly chosen as partner in the new MoU?
Both universities are world renowned for their academic excellence. It would be mutually beneficial for all to exchange faculty and students, and also collaborate on research programs of global importance.

The signing of the MoU between universities is one of the first major milestones since your inauguration. Is this a step forward for KAIST? If so, how and why?
The timing of MoU signing just happened to follow my inauguration and thus may be marked as a first major milestone. This is certainly a right move for the globalization of KAIST’s education and research but, more significantly, for establishing and achieving overarching goals to promote excellence in all things that KAIST does, especially educating world-class scientists and engineers who will make the world of the future far better than the world today.

What changes and for whom do you believe will be most apparent from the MoU?
The exchange of students and faculty is a must in order to make the MoU work well.
I would like to see timely and balanced exchange of faculty and students. Also, such MoUs open up opportunities for staff members to visit, observe, and learn from administrative practices in other world-class universities.

What service do you intend to provide for the KAIST community during your time as president? What vision do you have for the future?
I would like to lead KAIST to be an outstanding campus full of fun, enthusiasm, and innovation. My vision can be spelled out using KAIST as an acronym for knowledge creation, advancement, integrity, sustainability, and trust. I hope that all constituents of KAIST will value diversity, integrity, respect, equity, creativity, and teamwork (which all stand for DIRECT). The Committee of Core Values was recently formed to discuss and establish core values to be cherished by the entire KAIST community.

What changes can we expect to see in the future and how will you try to achieve a smooth transition when making these changes?
Establishing a mutual trust on campus is of utmost importance, so that all constituents can put unswerving dedication into what needs to be done efficiently. Open communication and constructive suggestions will be whole-heartedly welcomed. I will also do my best to listen and digest different opinions attentively. I also believe that collective wisdom is always better and more sustainable than any individual wisdom.

How would you also improve KAIST as an academic institute of cutting-edge technology that represents our nation? Can this MoU play a specific role in making this improvement?
KAIST must maintain its programs to look forward and be relevant and impacting. And in all that we do, we must make sure that the quality is at its highest level. This includes education, research, and public service. At the same time, we must make sure that the ultimate goal of science and technology is for humanity. Through MoUs with other leading universities, we can critically review and improve our own programs, goals, and processes.

As the president of KAIST, how would you define science and technology? What is your personal philosophy and experience behind this?
Science and technology should be for humanity. Both basic and applied sciences must be emphasized and pursued with a good balance. Often, the birth of groundbreaking technology requires a strong foundation in basic science. For example, advanced mathematics was used to overcome the design complexity of bottlenecks in photolithography and very large scale integration chip fabrications. There are numerous other examples. While we can celebrate good achievements of KAIST, we must not be too satisfied, for self-satisfaction can derail the good momentum that scientists and engineers need for new discoveries and novel applications.

Do you have any last comments or words you wish you say to KAIST students?
Have big dreams, be courageous, work hard with perseverance, and play hard also. Do not be afraid of falling down, especially when you tackle difficult tasks. Also, do not look down on other people when they fall down. Until we achieve our goals, we all must rise up and try again and again with persistence.