Selected Speeches
Dr. OH Yeon Cheonserved as the President of SNU from 2010 to 2014. These are selected speeches during his presidency.
International Faculty Dinner
HIT: 8295
Welcome. And to those of you who have been with the SNU community
for a few years, I would like to extend a warm welcome for another great
year. It is wonderful to see all of you here and to know that SNU’s
international community is growing.
This is SNU’s first year under its new autonomy, and it is one of SNU’s major goals to increase international presence on campus. As such, your presence and contribution is of fundamental importance to the university. The diversity of ideas and networks you bring make us stronger, and facilitate the expansion of our academic work within the global community. I also recognize that to choose to be a foreigner in Korea may not have been an easy choice for all of you. You probably chose to come here after having weighed many other options. You may also face some measure of language and cultural barriers. With these difficulties, however, we also hope that your individual experiences in Korea will add to your own depth of knowledge about the world.
This year, we have launched an ambitious scholarship program to attract some of the world’s top international students. A few years ago, only a handful of international students could be found on campus. But, today, many international students can see seen in and around the campus, and more will arrive this year. This year, we will also put much more effort into recruiting the best international faculty, which has become possible with the university’s newly gained autonomy. We intend to do this without losing our core Korean identity. I know this is part of what attracted you here and what makes us strong.
We are committed to creating a healthy and productive work environment that supports the best in international research. I hope you will let us know if we are succeeding or not with your valuable feedback.
Again, it is a pleasure to meet with all of you here today, and I hope that a great fall semester awaits us.
This is SNU’s first year under its new autonomy, and it is one of SNU’s major goals to increase international presence on campus. As such, your presence and contribution is of fundamental importance to the university. The diversity of ideas and networks you bring make us stronger, and facilitate the expansion of our academic work within the global community. I also recognize that to choose to be a foreigner in Korea may not have been an easy choice for all of you. You probably chose to come here after having weighed many other options. You may also face some measure of language and cultural barriers. With these difficulties, however, we also hope that your individual experiences in Korea will add to your own depth of knowledge about the world.
This year, we have launched an ambitious scholarship program to attract some of the world’s top international students. A few years ago, only a handful of international students could be found on campus. But, today, many international students can see seen in and around the campus, and more will arrive this year. This year, we will also put much more effort into recruiting the best international faculty, which has become possible with the university’s newly gained autonomy. We intend to do this without losing our core Korean identity. I know this is part of what attracted you here and what makes us strong.
We are committed to creating a healthy and productive work environment that supports the best in international research. I hope you will let us know if we are succeeding or not with your valuable feedback.
Again, it is a pleasure to meet with all of you here today, and I hope that a great fall semester awaits us.