[The gift will be used to develop educational programs in biotech and healthcare industries and in recruiting outstanding talent]

Professor Young Chul Sung of POSTECH’s Department of Life Sciences and his wife Okhee Lee made a gift of 10 billion won (USD 8.4 million) worth of stocks to POSTECH to cultivate leaders in the post COVID-19 era.

Prof. Sung and Mrs. Lee had expressed their intent to donate 10 billion won in July in seeing an urgent need to empower biotech startups and nurture experts who can conduct convergence research to combat new pandemics in the post COVID-19 era.

Prof. Sung had also donated 10 billion won to ‘Fist POSTECH Fund’ in 2018 which is Korea’s first privately initiated fund for supporting commercialization of high-value technologies owned by the university.

POSTECH held a signing ceremony on campus to establish the ‘SL Fund’ to honor the couples’ wish on August 19. The SL Fund, which stands for Saving Life Fund, will be used to develop creative convergent educational programs, to recruit outstanding talent, and to foster startups in the biotech and healthcare areas for POSTECH’s Life Sciences Department.

Prof. Sung’s steady donations have drawn attention previously for donating about 70 billion won (USD 59 million) to academia and research institutions, and recently making a gift to Yonsei University as well. His donations are significant in that they are primarily focused on creating research ecosystem and supporting startups in the biotech industry.

“Highly infectious and dangerous virus like COVID-19 can show up anytime in the near future and we cannot have a global lock-down like now at every instance,” Prof. Sung commented. In explaining his reason for donating, Prof. Sung pointed out, “Research-oriented universities like POSTECH should actively step in to foster exceptional talent in biotech and healthcare sectors to prevent situations like the one we are facing now.”

He further added, “My wish is for SL fund to be the cornerstone of cultivating global leaders who can discover innovative technologies for saving the mankind from numerous threats that we may face in the future.”

“I am thankful to Prof. Sung and Mrs. Lee’s for their foresight and providence,” remarked President Moo Hwan Kim of POSTECH. “With their full support and POSTECH’s superb R&D infrastructure to implement convergence education and research in biotech and healthcare industries, I believe that POSTECH and Pohang can grow into a biotech and pharmaceutical hub like the city of Basel in Switzerland.”