Lee Joong-geun, chairman of Booyoung Group, will receive an honorary doctorate in business administration from KAIST.
KAIST announced that it will award Chairman Lee an honorary doctorate in business administration at the '2025 Commencement Ceremony' held on the 14th.
Chairman Lee is recognized for leading Booyoung Group and pioneering residential welfare as well as educational and cultural development in Korea. Previously, he donated 20 billion KRW to KAIST last year, helping to fully remodel four aging dormitory buildings.
Currently, KAIST is sequentially carrying out research environment improvement construction for the four dormitory buildings that received the most requests from enrolled students.
Among them, Nanum Hall has completed remodeling work, and KAIST introduced that it will be named the ‘Ujeong (宇庭) Research Building’ after the donor’s pen name. The Ujeong Research Building will be utilized as a research space beyond its simple dormitory function. KAIST plans to hold a completion and donation ceremony for the research building on the 14th.
After founding Booyoung Group in 1983, Chairman Lee boldly entered the rental housing business, which large construction companies avoided, supplying 230,000 rental housing units out of 300,000 units across 383 complexes nationwide, contributing to improving the quality of life for ordinary citizens and stabilizing national housing.
In particular, Chairman Lee is known for proposing creative solutions to the low birthrate problem from the private sector based on his philosophy that “social sustainability comes from raising the next generation healthily.”
Booyoung Group actively addressed national challenges by introducing innovative systems such as providing free daycare centers within complexes and paying a childbirth incentive of 100 million KRW each time an employee has a child, creating a butterfly effect. This provided an important opportunity for the government and the public to encourage childbirth.
Recently, Chairman Lee expressed gratitude for the sacrifices of the UN forces from 60 countries?including 16 combat countries, 6 medical countries, and 38 countries providing material support?that participated in the Korean War, and proposed re-designating UN Day as a public holiday to commemorate the spirit of the era and improve diplomatic relations for future generations.
He also contributed to nurturing future talents and improving the overall cultural level of society through continuous donations and facility support in education and culture. Representative cases include donating buses and trucks to Southeast Asian regions such as Cambodia and Laos to facilitate transportation for students and residents, and contributing to economic growth in developing countries through educational facility support and infrastructure donations to over 600 locations overseas, including Africa.
Chairman Lee said, “I am honored to receive an honorary doctorate from KAIST. I hope KAIST students grow into global talents who contribute to national development by nurturing their dreams and talents.”
KAIST President Lee Kwang-hyung emphasized, “Chairman Lee has carried out various social contribution activities, and especially showed deep interest and responsibility for the development of Korean science and technology through support for academic infrastructure, which is the core of national competitiveness.”
He added, “In recognition of his social contribution activities and achievements, including scholarships, educational facility support, and domestic and international education, culture, veterans, and overseas support, we award Chairman Lee an honorary doctorate.”
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