Kwon Oh-hyun, former chairman of Samsung Electronics, has been named the new chairman of the board of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).
The KAIST board of trustees said it selected Kwon, who also chairs the Orange Planet Startup Foundation, as its new chairman at the 298th extraordinary board meeting held in Seoul on the 21st.
Kwon graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in electrical engineering in 1975, earned a master's degree in electrical engineering at KAIST and received a doctorate in electrical engineering from Stanford University in the United States. He joined Samsung in 1985 as a researcher at the company's semiconductor laboratory in the U.S., and in 1992 led the development of the world's first 64-megabit DRAM chip. An engineer turned professional manager, Kwon went on to serve as president of Samsung Electronics' semiconductor division, vice chairman and co-chief executive, and chairman and chief executive as well as chairman of the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology.
After stepping back from front-line management in 2020, he served as chairman of the Korea Invention Promotion Association and as the seventh chairman of the board at Seoul National University. In September last year, he became the first business executive to head the mid- and long-term strategy committee under the Ministry of Planning and Budget. His awards include the Gold Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit in 2009, the Korea Top Scientist and Engineer Award in 2014, the Inchon Prize in the business and technology category in 2012 and the Dasan Technology Award in 1997.
KAIST said Kwon, an alumnus of the institute, received an honorary doctorate in business administration from KAIST in 2018, the first alumnus to do so, and helped establish the "Kwon Oh-hyun Assistant Professor" program, which supports creative and ambitious early-career researchers and backs young faculty members each year in physics, mathematics, chemistry, life sciences and engineering, maintaining a long-running tie with his alma mater.
Kwon's term runs from the date of approval by Bae Kyung-hoon, deputy prime minister and minister of science and ICT, through Aug. 19, 2029, when his term as a trustee expires. KAIST said an executive who drove Samsung's wide technology lead in semiconductors will now chair its board, adding that attention is turning to whether a similar push for a decisive edge will take hold at KAIST.
