Distinguished Professor Hae-cheon Choi, final candidate for Seoul National University President... Graduated from engineering school 20 years ago

(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.

This is the first time in 20 years since the 24th President Lee Jang-moo in 2006 that a president has emerged from the College of Engineering.

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.

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: ▲ securing 2 trillion won in new funds over 4 years through 'SNU Mega Frontier Partners', etc. ▲ increasing initial research funds for new faculty members by 3 times ▲ 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.

Professor Choi ranked second, scoring 125.15 points out of 490 (25.5%) in the policy evaluation for faculty, staff, and students announced on the 14th of last month.

Professor Jun-ho Kang ranked first with 169.25 points (34.5%), and Professor Jae-young Lee ranked third with 113.11 points (23.1%).

Since the candidate who ranked first in the policy evaluation is usually elected as the final candidate, this result is considered an upset.

During this process of selecting the president, the Board of Directors interview schedule was postponed due to reports being received about some candidates, causing difficulties.

Originally, the board of directors was scheduled to interview candidates on the 27th of last month, but postponed the schedule to this day due to the need for additional verification of some candidates.

Seoul National University has been reviewing suspicions raised during the candidate verification process in accordance with relevant procedures.