Un-Chan Chung *78
Seoul, Republic of Korea

Graduate Alumni Candidate

Professor of Economics at Seoul National University (SNU), where he formerly served as President, and President of the Korean Economic Association, Un-Chan Chung  has played a key role in determining both educational and economic development in Korea over the last 29 years.  With one foot in Korean university life and one in the government sector, he has led policy-making efforts in both worlds.
           
With his BA in Economics from SNU, Chung received his MA from Miami University (Ohio) in 1972 and his PhD at Princeton in 1978.  After Princeton, he spent more than two years teaching “Money and Financial Markets” at Columbia University before returning to Korea to begin teaching Economics at SNU.  He has been at SNU ever since, serving as Professor, Assistant Dean of the College of Social Sciences, Head of the School of Economics and, eventually, as President of the University itself.  
           
SNU is a young university in a country still establishing its education system, and its president is elected by faculty vote to serve a four-year term.  In 2002 Chung became the youngest president ever to be elected.  “It was a heavy responsibility,” reflects Chung.  “The role model that I had in mind while implementing reform was Princeton, which instilled in my youth a passion for knowledge and a vision of future society.” 
           
“My first goal was ‘excellence in research and education,’” he says, which required reducing the overall student body while increasing the percentage of talented students from parts of the country other than Seoul.  “Second, in an effort to strengthen ‘diversity and internationalization,’ I strived to invite renowned scholars and students from around the world to transform the University into a research hub of Asia,” says Chung.  He also increased the percentage of women faculty members from 7.5% to 10.6%, and in striving to meet his third goal—increased funding—he collected “the greatest amount of university funds in the history of Seoul National University.”
           
By the end of Chung’s tenure as President of SNU, the university had assumed 63rd place in the “world university rankings published by The Times,” a ranking that represented a “leap of several dozen steps,” he comments.  “I am happy that my reform, based on Princeton’s educational philosophy, is seen as having paved the way for the growth of Seoul National University as a world-class institution of higher education in the near future.”  Having finished his term as President, Chung is once again teaching at SNU.  He also continues his work as Director of the Suam Foundation, a scholarship and research-support organization that he has overseen since 1996.
           
In addition to his positions at SNU, Chung has held many government advisory posts in which he has participated in “determining the direction of Korea’s development,” he says.  He has served as Advisor to the Seoul City Government, for example, and as President of the Korea Money and Finance Association.  He was Advisor to the Korea Institute of Finance for five years and President of the Korean Economic Association in 2006.  In his numerous books and articles, he has “delved into the topics of the economic development of Korea and Asia,” he says, “endeavoring to present Korean society with a vision for its future.”
           
Chung has also maintained his Princeton ties over the years, serving as President of the Princeton Club of Korea.  Last year he returned to Princeton for its Second Global Colloquium of University Presidents, where participants “discussed the benefits that higher education institutes should bring to society,” he recalls.  Citing the motto, “Princeton in the Nation’s Service and in the Service of All Nations,” he credits the University with being a “cradle of outstanding leaders capable of serving all humanity and advancing world peace and coexistence.”