Taejin Kang (Korea Rep.)

Tae Jin Kang is a professor emeritus of Engineering and directs The Nanofibers and Nanocomposites Laboratory at Department of Materials Science and Engineering of Seoul National University. Professor Kang obtained a Ph.D. from North Carolina State University with Phi Kappa Phi Award and B.Sc. from Seoul National University.

He has taught at and served for SNU 32years since his faculty appointment in 1984. During his tenure as Dean of the College of Engineering from 2007 to 2011, he helped design and oversee a significant expansion and renovation of the Engineering College's educational and research facilities, including the state-of-the-art Global Education Center for Engineers emphasized and shaped a curricular focus on inter-disciplinary learning, and contributed to create a vibrant and collegial global student-faculty community. In 2009, Professor Kang successfully launched the National Research Foundation of Korea one of the largest research institutions in Korea – with an initial funding of $2.6 billion – in his capacity as the Chair of the Founding Committee. Presently he is serving as a President of The Association for the Study of Knowledge Society.

Professor Kang has published over 190 research papers in top academic SCI journals, including Journal of Applied Polymer Science, and is on the board of editors of several international journals, including Textile Research Journal and Journal of Textile Institute, contributing to the advancement of knowledge and international academic collaborations in his fields of expertise. He has also advised many government agencies and departments in Korea, including the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, Ministry of Industry and Energy, and Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. He writes op-eds for leading papers in Korea on higher education as well as the nation’s strategic priorities of the future and receives media coverage for his work, speeches, and professional activities.

Professor Kang has written five books, Korea 4.0, Right Now (2016), Fashion 4.0 (2016), Surrogate (2020), and Korea Agenda 2017, Korea Agenda 2018. Professor Kang was awarded Kármán Fellowship at the RWTH Aachen University, Germany (2015).