Two SNU professors named new presidents of ETRI, KRICT

South Korea’s National Research Council of Science and Technology (NST) on Tuesday appointed Bahk Sae-woong, a professor at Seoul National University, as president of the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI).

It also named Shin Seok-min, also a professor at Seoul National University, as president of the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT).

Their three-year terms will run from May 20, 2026 through May 19, 2029.

Newly appointed ETRI President Park earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Seoul National University and received a doctorate in systems engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in the United States.

He joined Seoul National University as a professor in 1994 and has since devoted himself to research and education.

He previously served as president of the Korean Institute of Communication Sciences and Information Sciences (KICS), a regular member of the National Academy of Engineering of Korea (NAEK), and a researcher at AT&T Bell Laboratories in the U.S.

Park is regarded as one of Korea’s leading scholars in information and communications technology and wireless networks.

Newly appointed KRICT President Shin earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry from Seoul National University and received a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Chicago in the U.S.

He has served as a professor in the Department of Chemistry at Seoul National University since 1995 and previously held positions including president of the Korean Union of Chemical Science and Technology Societies (KUCST) and president of the Korean Chemical Society (KCS).

He is considered one of Korea’s leading scholars in theoretical and computational chemistry.

His major research areas include analyzing protein folding and the self-assembly of nanomaterials through computer simulations.