Dr. Myung-Ja Kim

Dr. Kim currently serves as President of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology(KAIST), President Emeritus of the Korean Federation of Science & Technology(KOFST), Chairman of the Korea Academy of Environmental Science, President Emeritus of the Korea Business Council for Sustainable Development (KBCSD), Advisor to the Presidential National Integration Commission, Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) of the Institute of Biological Sciences (IBS), Vice Chairman of the Korea Association of Merit Scientists and Engineers, and so forth. Until recently, she served as a member of the International Advisory Panel (IAP) to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in Beijing (2018-2021), chairman of the board of directors of Hyosung (2021-2023), advisor to the president of Seoul National University (2020-2023), and advisor to the president of KAIST (2008-2020). In 2016, she was elected as the first female president of the KOFST in its 50-year history, organized more than 300 domestic and international forums, and constructed the second Science and Technology Center building.

She got her B.S. in chemistry from Seoul National University and a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia (1971). She taught chemistry, history of science, environmental policy, and science and technology policy as a professor at Sookmyung Women’s University, a distinguished professor at Myongji University, a CEO Visiting Professor at Seoul National University, and a distinguished visiting professor at KAIST’s Graduate School of Science and Technology Policy (2008-2016). In 2020, he was named a Korean Science and Technology Merit Scholar.

With more than 50 years of experience in academia, the executive, legislative, and NGO sectors, Dr. Kim was appointed Minister of Environment in the government of President Kim Dae-Jung (1999-2003) and awarded the 1st and 2nd Presidential Citation for the Best Ministry in 2001-2002 as the longest serving minister of the Kim Dae-Jung Government. In addition, as a member of the 17th National Assembly (2004-2008) as a proportional representative, she served as vice-chairman of the National Defense Committee, chairperson of the National Assembly’s Ethics Committee, advisor to the Korea-Japan Parliamentary Union, member of the Korea-U.S. Parliamentary Council.

Her recent two books, “Pandemics and Civilization” (2020) and “Reading World History through the Industrial Revolutions”(2019), were selected as Outstanding Science Books of 2020 by the Ministry of Science and ICT. In addition, she published “Nuclear Power; What are the Problems” (2023) and 20 other books.