Who is running for the 17th Ewha president?

The school has begun preparations for the 17th Presidential Election scheduled in October. The official registration period for the candidates is on Oct. 28 and 29. According to Ewha’s official newspaper published in Korean, Ewha Weekly, there are nine candidates so far expected to run for presidency, shared by the Election Commission.

Nine professors have confirmed their registration plans.

Candidate one - Kang Hye-ryun

Professor Kang Hye-ryun joined Ewha School of Business in 1995. She is currently the professor in the Division of Business Administration who also held numerous positions in the school. Such positions were from the Office of Student Affairs, Office of Admission, and Office of University Planning & Coordination. She was the director of Student Counseling from 1998 to 2000.

Kang took on positions in the National Information Society Agency, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, and Korean Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP). She was once the president of the Korea Foundation for the Advancement of Science & Creativity and 24th President of the Korean Academy of Management as well.

Candidate two - Kim Sung-jin

Kim Sung-jin has been a professor in Chemistry & Nanoscience since 1990 with experience as the president of College of Natural Science in 2010 until 2014. She led the nanoscience team for the BK21 Project in 2006 for six years.

In 2015, Kim joined as a fellow of the Korea Academy of Science and Technology. This year, she received the Science & Technology Medal of Creation, the top first class national medal of Science & Technology in Korea. Kim served as a board member of the National Research Council of Science & Technology and a committee member of IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) in 2009.

Candidate three - Kim Eun-mi

Kim Eun-mi joined Ewha in 1997 and is currently a professor at the Graduate School of International Studies and the director of the Global Health Institute for Girls. She was the president of the Graduate School of International Studies from 2011 until 2017.

Kim served as the fourth and fifth president of the Korea Association of International Development and Cooperation and a member of various committees such as the Committee for International Development Cooperation under the Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. In 2016, she was selected as one of the authors of the UNdesignated Independent Group of Scientists (IGS) and participated in the 2019 UN Global Sustainable Development Report.

Candidate four - Yang Ok-kyung

In 1990, Yang Ok-kyung became the professor in the College of Social Sciences and participated in the BK21 Project from 2006 until 2009. In Ewha, Yang served as the dean of Graduate School of Social Welfare, dean of Career Development Center, and vice-president for University Relations and Development.

Additionally in 2012, she was appointed as editor-in-chief for the Asian Social Work and Policy Review by Wiley Publishing and is currently in position. She also serves as a board member in several pro bono foundations such as Samsung Foundation and UNICEF Korea.

Candidate five - Lee Kong-joo

Professor Lee Kong-joo joined Ewha’s Pharmaceutical Sciences in 1990. She also played part in the BK21 Project from 1999 until 2006. Within the school, Lee took a role in the Office of Research and Planning and Coordination. In 2010, she was elected as the 22nd dean of the graduate school of Ewha.

Lee was also an editorial board member in Mol Cell Proteomics and the president of the Association of Korean Woman Scientists & Engineers. Contributing to the promotion of women scientists in the country, she was the third and fourth president of the International Network of Women Engineers and Scientists from 2011 until 2017. In 2019, she was tapped as presidential science policy adviser as well.

Candidate six - Lee Sun-hee

Lee Sun-hee joined Ewha as the professor for Special Appointment in Industrial Pharmaceutical Science in 1997. She is currently teaching in the College of Medicine and until February this year, she also taught at Ewha Graduate School of Business.

Lee also actively participated in the country’s organizations including the Korean Academy of Health Policy and Management and Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW). In 2016, she was chosen as the president of Korean Society of Hospital Management. Lee worked longest at MOHW taking on various roles, mostly in the Office for Healthcare Policy.

Candidate seven - Lee Joo-hee

Joining the faculty at Ewha Sociology Department in 2005, professor Lee Joo-hee recently was appointed as the director of Career Development Center. Lee was also a research fellow at the Korea Labor Institute for two years prior to joining Ewha.

Lee represented Korea at the Women 20, a G20 Outreach group, in 2015 and 2016. Continually, from 2016, she participated in the International Labour and Employment Relations Association World Congress until 2018. Lastly, Lee was the president of the Critical Sociological Association of Korea in 2019.

Candidate eight - Lee Hyang-sook

The eighth candidate is professor Lee Hyang-sook from Department of Mathematics who joined Ewha in 1995. At school, she played major roles at the Ewha University- Industry Collaboration Foundation, Office of Research, and Institute of Mathematical Sciences.

Lee served as a vice-chair and executive committee member of the organizing committee in the 2014 International Congress of Mathematicians. She is also a part of the steering committee of the Algorithmic Number Theory Symposium. She previously worked with the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Education.

Candidate nine - Cho Ki-sook

The last candidate is professor Cho Kisook from the Department of Dance. She is currently the director of the Culture and Art-Urban Regeneration Institute. Cho previously worked as the director of the Center for the Performing Arts from 2011 until 2019. She also led the Performance Relations Arts Managements Entertainment (PRAME) project run by the Ewha Creative Academy.

In 2011, Cho was the president of the Society for Dance Documentation & History for three years. Since 2018, she also joined the Arts Council Korea. She also collaborated with Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education in 2018 to help the Culture and Arts Education field.