People: Kunmo Chung
ARCHITECT OF KOREAN TECHNOLOGY
When MSU awarded an honorary doctorate in engineering during Winter Commencement to KunMo Chung, Ph.D. '63, it reflected more than just his enormous success in advancing Korean technology, international nuclear issues, and all kinds of humanitarian efforts. It also reflected the wisdom of John Hannah in recruiting the whiz kid who had broken all testing records in Korea to come to MSU along with girl friend, now wife, Kyung-Ja, '63.
It didn't take long for Chung to prove Hannah's judgment right. He obtained his doctorate degree in three years, at age 23. 'My third year I was an instructor,' he recalls. 'In all honesty, I coasted. I really enjoyed the hospitality, Very nice midwestern, very traditional values--very good for a graduate student.' KunMo quickly adds, 'Those were great years at MSU. Every year we beat the University of Michigan in football!'
After pursuing thermonuclear research at places like Princeton and M.I.T., he recalls, John Hannah, then administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID), summoned him. 'It is time to return to Korea,' Hannah told KunMo.
And just as he had offered a special fellowship to entice him to MSU, Hannah now offered funding to establish an institute that would be the springboard for the development of Korean industry--the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. KunMo was made provost. 'They told me I was too young to be president,' he recalls with a smile.
His career took off meteorically, both in Korea and globally. He has served as president of the International Atomic Energy Agency and chairman of the International Nuclear Energy Academy, and now is president of the Institute for Advanced Engineering, a visionary unit designed to take Korea into the 21st Century. 'The 20th Century was the century of science, with the focus on analysis and dissertation oriented research,' he explains. 'The 21st Century will be the century of engineering. The focus will be synthesis, instead of analysis. The focus will be on globalism, on multi- disciplinary efforts, multi-media, and on how to solve problems.'