[People人] "I will create a Question King Award and a Failure Research Institute"... Lee Kwang-hyung, the new KAIST president

The New Challenge of the 'Eccentric Mentor' Who Nurtured 1st Generation Venture Founders

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] “I will create a school that asks questions. I will award the ‘Question King Award’ as the President’s Prize to nurture talents who are not afraid of failure and who show interest in humanity and the world by asking questions.”

This was the inaugural statement of Lee Kwang-hyung, the newly appointed president of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), known as the ‘eccentric professor.’ Since his inauguration on the afternoon of the 8th, he has been known for always pursuing different actions and thoughts from others, such as watching TV upside down and tying his shoelaces in different colors on each side. This is not mere eccentricity but an educational philosophy that rejects fixed ideas and inertia, fostering autonomy and creativity. Thanks to this, his laboratory has produced venture entrepreneurs who have succeeded in their own challenges without fear of adventure, including Kim Jung-ju (Nexon), Kim Young-dal (IDIS), Kim Jun-hwan (Olaworks), and Shin Seung-woo (Neowiz).

◇ Creating a ‘Failure Research Institute’

President Lee’s educational philosophy is well reflected in the ‘University Management Statement’ he announced when he ran for the presidency in January. It contains unique pledges befitting his nickname ‘eccentric.’ His first pledge was to create a ‘Questioning KAIST.’ This is different from the traditional academic culture accustomed to authoritarianism. President Lee believes that questioning will be the key to educational innovation at KAIST. The most important goal of KAIST is to nurture global creative talents, and students should be shown the broad world through reading and various internships to dream big, while developing the ability to ask questions in this process. During his tenure, he plans to award students with the Question King Award and Challenge King Award as the President’s Prize to instill the spirit of Israel’s ‘chutzpah’ (bold challenge and provocation).

President Lee’s educational philosophy, which values autonomy and creativity, is also evident in his pledge to create a ‘Failure Research Institute’ and to promote the ‘One Lab, One First’ campaign. He holds the philosophy of creating an educational atmosphere where ‘being different from others’ shines, rather than chasing after or competing with others’ research, and placing more value on pioneering research rather than competitive research. The Failure Research Institute reinterprets failure as ‘success that teaches lessons’ to encourage courage and supports new and creative research challenges.

The ‘One Lab, One First’ campaign encourages each research lab to attempt at least one world-first research project. President Lee said, “We need to innovate research from the ‘How’ approach, which finds answers to problems defined by others, to the ‘What’ approach, which defines what to research by ourselves. We will encourage research that does not follow trends or imitate others but seeks what comes next.”

◇ Leading Internationalization and Convergence Education

‘Internationalization,’ ‘convergence education,’ and the ‘future’ are also core pillars of President Lee’s educational philosophy. He recognized the importance of interdisciplinary convergence early on, advocating for the convergence of bio and ICT in 2001 and playing a leading role in establishing the Department of Bio and Brain Engineering at KAIST. In 2009, he led the establishment of the Graduate School of Intellectual Property and the Graduate School of Science Journalism, and in 2013, he spearheaded the founding of the MoonSul Future Strategy Graduate School, Korea’s first future studies research institution. After his inauguration, he aims to promote humanities convergence, boundaryless interdisciplinary education, and the enhancement of artistic literacy through the establishment of an art museum. For internationalization, he plans initiatives such as ‘One Lab, One Foreign Student Recruitment,’ dispatching professors, students, and researchers to Boston and Silicon Valley, and building overseas international campuses.

As a mentor to major first-generation venture entrepreneurs, he also revealed a vision for ‘technology commercialization.’ First, he plans to privatize the technology commercialization department responsible for securing and utilizing core intellectual property. The goal is to establish a dynamic intellectual property management system that can generate annual revenues of 100 billion KRW within ten years through incentive-based organizational management. He also plans to promote the ‘One Lab, One Venture’ campaign and the Startup World project to foster an innovation growth ecosystem connecting Daejeon, Osong, and Sejong.

As the head of Korea’s top advanced science education institution, which has nurtured the country’s best research and talents but still thirsts for ‘world-first research and top talents,’ what results will this eccentric professor bring after four years? President Lee said, “There were times when being called eccentric felt unpleasant, but I think people initially found it strange because I talked about many new things. During my four-year term, I will make this an educational institution that nurtures great individuals who can ask proper questions.”