fund
< Chairman Chang, 92, and his wife Ha-Ok Ahn, 90, gave away their two properties valued at 20 billion to KAIST. >
A self-made elderly couple in their 90s made a 20 billion KRW donation to KAIST on March 13. Chairman of Samsung Brush Sung-Hwan Chang and his wife Ha-Ok Ahn gave away their two properties valued at 20 billion in Nonhyon-dong in Seoul to KAIST during a ceremony on March 13 in Seoul.
Chairman Chang, 92, made a huge fortune starting his business manufacturing cosmetic brushes. Building two factories in China, he expanded his business to export to high-end cosmetic companies. Chairman Chang, a native of North Korea, is a refugee who fled his hometown with his sister at age 18 during the Korean War. He said remembering his mother who was left behind in North Korea was the most painful thing.
“We always wanted to help out people in need when we would earn enough money. We were inspired by our friends at our retirement community who made a donation to KAIST several years ago. We believe this is the right time to make this decision,” said Chairman Chang.
The couple lives in same retirement community, a famous place for many successful businessmen and wealthy retired figures, located in Yongin, Kyonggi-do with Chairmen Beang-Ho Kim, Chun-Shik Cho, and Chang-Keun Son. With their gift, KAIST established Kim Beang-Ho & Kim Sam-Youl ITC Building as well as the Cho Chun-Shik Graduate School of Green Transportation. The four senior couples’ donations amount to 76.1 billion KRW.
“It would be the most meaningful way if we could invest in KAIST for the country’s future,” said Chairman Chang. “I talked a lot with Chairman Kim on how KAIST utilizes its donations and have developed a strong belief in the future of KAIST.”
Chairman and Mrs. Chang already toured the campus several times at the invitation of President Kwang-Hyung Lee and President Lee himself presented the vision of KAIST to the couple. The couple also attended President Lee’s inauguration ceremony on March 8.
President Lee thanked the couple for their donation, saying “I take my hat off to Chairman Chang and his wife for their generous donation that was amassed over their lifetime. They lived very fiscally responsible lives. We will efficiently utilize this fund for educating future global talents."
(END)
-
research KAIST Professor and Alumni Who Won AIxCC Donate 150 Million KRW of Prize Money to Their Alma Mater
<(From Left) Professor Insu Yun from KAIST School of Electrical Engineering, Researcher HyungSeok Han from Samsung Research America> KAIST (President Kwang Hyung Lee) announced on the 23rd of November that HyungSeok Han (Ph.D. alumnus from the School of Computing) and Insu Yun (B.S. alumnus, currently Associate Professor in the School of Electrical Engineering) donated 150 million KRW from the prize money won by Team Atlanta, which took first place in the world’s largest AI securi
2025-11-24 -
event KAIST Kicks Off the Expansion of its Creative Learning Building, a 50th Anniversary Donation Landmark
KAIST announced on July 10th that it held a groundbreaking ceremony on July 9th for the expansion of its Creative Learning Building. This project, which celebrates the university's 50th anniversary, will become a significant donation-funded landmark and marks the official start of its construction. <(From left) President Kwang Hyung Lee, Former President Sung-Chul Shin> The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by key donors who graced the occasion, including KAIST President Kwang H
2025-07-10 -
event Dongwon Group Honorary Chairman Kim Jae-chul Donates a Total of 54.4 Billion Won to KAIST
- Dongwon Group Honorary Chairman Kim Jae-chul, following his 2020 donation of 50 billion won, donates an additional 4.4 billion won to strengthen the AI education and research infrastructure - The additional donation of 4.4 billion won will be used to build a new AI education and research building - “In the AI era, there will be a new future in the sea of data. Please become the world’s No. 1 research group.” - Honorary Chairman Kim Jae-chul < Photo 1. Kim Ja
2025-01-06 -
event MVITRO Co., Ltd. Signs to Donate KRW 1 Billion as Development Fund toward KAIST-NYU Joint Campus
KAIST (President Kwang Hyung Lee) announced on the 29th that it has solicited a development fund of KRW 1 billion from MVITRO (CEO Young Woo Lee) for joint research at the KAIST-NYU Joint Campus, which is being pursued to be KAIST's first campus on the United States. KAIST plans to use this development fund for research and development of various solutions in the field of 'Healthcare at Home' among several joint researches being conducted with New York University (hereinafter referred to as N
2023-05-30 -
fund Krafton Matches Alumni Donations to Raise 11 Billion KRW for SW Developers
Alumni donations from the School of Computing, including Baemin and Devsisters, continue to grow Alumni from the KAIST School of Computing who are current and former developers at the leading game company Krafton, established by KAIST alumna Byung-Gyu Chang, made an agreement to help raise 11 billion KRW during a ceremony on June 4. The funds raised in the matching grant will be used to nurture software developers. Krafton Chairman Chang donated 10 billion won last January. His donation in
2021-06-09