50th Anniversary of the Korea Higher Education Foundation Founded in Honor of the Late SK Election Committee Chairman Choi Jong-hyun

Future Talent Conference Held on the 26th
Choi Tae-won Discusses Future Talent with University Students

50th Anniversary Conference of the Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies. Photo by Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies

The Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies, established by the late Choi Jong-hyun, former chairman of SK Group, to foster 'excellent talent,' has reached its 50th anniversary.

The Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies announced on the 24th that it will hold a 'Future Talent Conference' at the Walkerhill Hotel in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, on the 26th to celebrate its 50th anniversary. At this Future Talent Conference, discussions will focus on the future talent model equipped with convergent thinking and collaboration skills, sharing the foundation's direction for talent development and concretizing a new vision and mission for the next 50 years.

To provide vision and inspiration to future generations, a lively forum will be held to tackle challenging and bold questions in the field of science and technology together. In the 'Talent Talk' session, themed 'Finding Humanity's Path in the Forest of Talent,' about 200 students from humanities and science and engineering fields will discuss the core competencies required of future talents and examine educational challenges such as the role of universities in the era of artificial intelligence (AI).

In the face of new era challenges such as the digital revolution and sustainability, the conference will also explore directions for nurturing talents with convergent thinking and cooperative abilities. SK Group Chairman Choi Tae-won, who serves as the foundation's chairman, will participate as a panelist in this session, discussing the future talent model with Professor Lee Dae-yeol of Johns Hopkins University, Professor Lee Seok-jae of Seoul National University, Professor Lee Jin-hyung of Stanford University, Professor Kim Jeong-eun of the University of Maryland, and Park Seong-hyun, CEO of Rebellion. The session will be chaired by Yeom Jae-ho, president of Taegye University.

In the 'Grand Quest' session, themed 'Finding Innovation on the Road Not Taken,' leading scholars and future talents in science and engineering will come together to find answers to challenging questions in ten scientific and technological fields including semiconductors, AI, synthetic biology, and anti-aging. Domestic and international scholars such as Professor Lee Jeong-dong of Seoul National University College of Engineering, who planned the session, Professor Lee Sang-yeop of KAIST, Professor Lee Junho of Seoul National University, Professor Yeom Han-woong of POSTECH, Professor Park Nam-gyu of Sungkyunkwan University, Professor Seok Min-gu of Columbia University, and Professor Nam Ki-tae of Seoul National University will participate.

50th Anniversary Logo of the Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies. Photo by Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies

After the conference, an internal event is planned where Chairman Choi Tae-won and foundation scholarship students will meet the late Chairman Choi through a video restored by AI. A foundation official said, "We will honor the founding philosophy of the late Chairman Choi, who devoted his life to advancing Korean scholarship and driving national development, and also present the new vision and mission that the foundation should pursue going forward."

The foundation's 50-year history will also be made available on its website. The Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies is a non-profit public corporation established in 1974 by the late Chairman Choi, who emphasized the importance of talent development and donated his private assets to found the foundation. The foundation's name does not include the company name or the founder's pen name to reflect its commitment to the mission of 'fostering excellent talent.'

Since its establishment, the foundation has produced nearly 1,000 PhD holders from world-renowned universities and nurtured over 5,000 talents. Notable alumni include Professor Park Hong-geun, the first Korean tenured professor at Harvard University, Professor Ha Taek-jip of Harvard University, Professor Cheon Myeong-woo of Yale University, Professor Lee Dae-yeol of Johns Hopkins University, and Dr. Lee Jin-hyung, the first Korean woman to become a tenured professor at Stanford University.