(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Minhyuk Yoon = Chair professor Hae-cheon Choi (64) of the Department of Mechanical Engineering was elected on the 8th as the final candidate for the 29th president of Seoul National University.
The new president is appointed by the president following the recommendation of the Minister of Education. The term of office is four years from February 1 of next year.
Professor Choi scored 125.15 points (25.5%) out of 490 points in the policy evaluation for faculty and students announced on the 14th of last month, ranking second after Professor Joon-ho Kang of the College of Education (169.25 points), but lost in the final stage.
It has been 12 years since the 26th presidential election in 2014 that the candidate ranked first in the policy evaluation was not selected as a final candidate by the board of directors.
In particular, interest is focused on the background of this election as it was a decision made after the Board of Directors postponed the interview of candidates originally scheduled for the 27th of last month due to the need for additional verification of some candidates.
The Seoul National University Board of Directors held a meeting to elect a new president on this day and voted to select Professor Choi as the final candidate.
Previously, the Seoul National University Presidential Recommendation Committee (General Recommendation Committee) recommended three people, including Professor Choi, Professor Kang Jun-ho of the College of Education, and Professor Jae-young Lee of the College of Humanities, to the Board of Directors as presidential candidates.
The board of directors interviewed three candidates and voted on this day. The number of votes for each candidate is unknown.
During this Seoul National University presidential election process, suspicions were raised surrounding some candidates' operation of government-supported education projects, execution of research funds, and fairness of the presidential election procedure.
It has been reported that suspicions have been raised that some candidates entrusted student guidance and teaching duties to others while running government-supported projects, or were allocated research funds inappropriately, and that they were involved in the selection process for members of the Cold War Committee.
As the conflict within the school surrounding candidate verification arose during the presidential election process, it is considered a task for the new president to resolve the conflict and restore trust among members.
A Seoul National University professor previously told Yonhap News ahead of the selection of the final candidate, "Professors will be very dissatisfied if someone else is nominated over Professor Kang, who had a much better faculty evaluation in the policy evaluation."
Meanwhile, it has been 20 years since the 24th President Lee Jang-moo in 2006 that a president has emerged from the College of Engineering.
As the importance of high-tech industries such as artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductors grows, attention is being paid to whether Seoul National University's industry-academia cooperation and technology-oriented research will be strengthened with the election of a president with an engineer background.
Seoul National University has recently promoted the establishment of a joint lab for joint research in the AI, robotics, and semiconductor fields with the global semiconductor company Nvidia, and has expanded cooperation with domestic companies such as SK Hynix to foster semiconductor experts.
Professor Choi, who served as Vice President for Research and Head of the Industry-Academic Cooperation Center, is also expected to focus his efforts on connecting the university's research achievements with industrial sites, as he has also pledged to expand strategic partnerships and joint research with companies.
Professor Choi received a bachelor's and master's degree in mechanical engineering from Seoul National University and a doctorate in mechanical engineering from Stanford University in the United States. He has served as a professor at Seoul National University since 1993.
He served as the head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Seoul National University, vice president for research, and president of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers, and was appointed as a special professor in March of this year.
Professor Choi presented his major pledges as follows: โฒ securing 2 trillion won in new funds over 4 years through 'SNU Mega Frontier Partners', etc. โฒ increasing initial research funds for new faculty members by 3 times โฒ introducing artificial intelligence (AI) literacy education for all students.
They also promised to reform the president's election system and expand support for outstanding teachers in each academic field.
