The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) has appointed Bae Choong-sik, a professor of mechanical engineering, as its 18th president. "I feel honored and bear a heavy sense of responsibility," the new president said. "Building on the 55 years of achievements KAIST has accumulated, I will cultivate 'talent with strong fundamentals' to lead the era of the great AI transformation, and elevate KAIST into the world's leading global innovation university through innovation in education, research, and entrepreneurship."
The KAIST board of trustees said it held its 296th extraordinary board meeting Saturday at the Seoul Yangjae Industry-Academia Campus of the KAIST Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI in Yangjae-dong, Seoul, and appointed Bae as the 18th president. The appointment will be finalized after the consent of the Minister of Education and the approval of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT.
Bae is regarded as a leading authority in eco-friendly energy and carbon-neutral power engineering. He graduated from the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Seoul National University and earned a doctorate in mechanical engineering from Imperial College London in the United Kingdom. After joining KAIST in 1998, he served as head of the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and dean of the College of Engineering. Recently, he was named a Korea Electric Power Corporation endowed chair professor in recognition of his research achievements in the energy and carbon neutrality fields.
Beyond research, he has also been active in national science and technology policy. During the spread of COVID-19, he headed the KAIST COVID-19 Response Science and Technology New Deal Task Force and participated in building a science- and technology-based crisis response system. He also served as president of the Carbon-Neutral Fuel Technology Research Society, chair of the climate subcommittee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Science and Technology Diplomacy Advisory Committee, and a full member of the National Academy of Engineering of Korea. At the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), he became the first Korean named an SAE Fellow, the highest scholarly membership in the power division, and won the SAE Best Paper Award twice.
The science and technology community views the role of the new president as more important than ever, given that KAIST stands at the center of competition over national strategic technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors, bio, quantum, and carbon neutrality. Drawing on his expertise in the energy and carbon neutrality fields and his policy experience, Bae is expected to lead efforts to strengthen KAIST's research competitiveness and establish strategies for future convergence science and technology.
"As a facilitator who communicates with members of the institute and listens to voices from the field, I will develop KAIST into a national innovation platform that creates new AI and leads science and technology innovation in the Republic of Korea," the new president said.
This appointment also carries significance in resolving the confusion over the KAIST presidential selection that had continued for more than a year. KAIST experienced controversy over a leadership vacuum as the appointment of a successor was delayed even after the term of current President Lee Kwang-hyung ended. In particular, at a February board meeting, a vote was held among three candidates—current President Lee Kwang-hyung, Kim Jeong-ho, a professor in the School of Electrical Engineering, and Lee Yong-hoon, former president of the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology—but the appointment proposal was rejected as no candidate secured a majority of votes. As it became known that this was the first time a KAIST presidential appointment proposal had been rejected by the board since the institute's founding, calls for board accountability and improved governance were raised both inside and outside the institute.
