Detailed Profiles

Dr. Kwangyun Wohn is a Professor Emeritus at Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST). In the past, he has been with several prestigious educational as well as research institutions; Agency for Defense Development as Researcher (for 5 years), Harvard University as Post-Doc Fellow (for 2 years); University of Pennsylvania as Assistant Professor (for 4 years), and KAIST as Professor (for 27 years), and most recently, National Council of Science & Technology as Chairperson (for 3 years) overseeing the 25 major national research institutions including KIST and ETRI.

Major activities and accomplishments include: Director of VR Research Center, a national center of research excellence; Founding President of Korean Society of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI); Founding President of Korean Society of Performing Art; Editorial Board of British Computer Society; Founding Dean of Graduate School of Culture Technology at KAIST. While his research interests span a broad range of the intersection between art and science – from theoretical aspects to practicalities – he focuses his research efforts to the applications of virtual reality technology to various cultural artifacts such as stage performances, museum exhibitions, cultural heritage, and educational contents.

Prof. Sung Yong KANG is a specialist in Indian and South Asian Studies, especially in Indian philosophy including epistemological and logical traditions. He is now an associate professor at the Institute of Humanities at Seoul National University in Korea. He is also in charge of the director of the Center for South Asian Studies in Asia Center at Seoul National University.

He was educated in philosophy at Seoul National University in the1980s, and he became interested in Indian philosophy. After receiving his bachelor's degree in Seoul, he went to the University of Hamburg, Germany, to systematically study Indian Classics. He graduated from the University of Hamburg with a major in Language and Culture of Ancient and Medieval India, a minor in philosophy, and a minor in Language and Culture of Tibet. His M.A. thesis is published as Zur altindischen Traditionen der Debatte gemäß der medizinischen Überlieferung (Reinbek, Germany: Dr. Inge Wezler 2003). He received his Ph.D. from Hamburg University in 2003 and worked as research fellow and lecturer in Seoul, Korea. In 2004, he has taken a Research Associate position in the Institute for South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies, University of Vienna. Since 2008 he is working in the Institute of Humanities, Seoul National University as an Indologist and doing his research and publication activities in diverse fields of Indian classics.

Dr. Byungdug Jun, a full professor at Nagasaki University, specializes in remote sensing and photogrammetry, focusing on Earth surface analysis. With broad experience in teaching, research, and administration, he has made significant contributions to Earth and data sciences, advancing spatial data analysis and environmental monitoring. Holding degrees from Kangwon National University and Nagasaki University, Dr. Jun's professional roles at Nagasaki University and other organizations illustrate his commitment to engineering excellence. His active involvement in societies like JSPRS, ASPRS, and AGC, along with editorial roles in leading journals, underscores his participation in the global scientific community.

Throughout his career, Dr. Jun has held pivotal positions that highlight his leadership in promoting peace and multicultural understanding, including his role as director of the Center for the Study of Peace at Nagasaki University. His work at DePaul University and with Nagasaki's Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition reflect his dedication to impactful global research. His various roles and memberships in international geoscience organizations showcase his commitment to fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and advancing remote sensing.

Dr Kang-Kook Lee is a Professor in the College of Economics at Ritsumeikan University. His research interests encompass economic growth, inequality, financial globalization and the East Asian economy. He graduated from the Department of Economics and the Graduate School of Economics at Seoul National University. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Massachusetts, with a focus on capital account liberalization and economic development. 

He published several books and numerous papers in academic journals including the Cambridge Journal of economics. As a visiting scholar, he has been affiliated with Columbia University in 2009, the University of Cambridge in 2018, and Seoul National University in 2019. He also serves as a co-editor of The Japanese Political economy. 

Yashveer founded the Ashoka Young Changemakers program at Ashoka Innovators for the Public, world's largest network of social entrepreneurs & innovators. Ashoka Young Changemakers identifies, selects and builds a global community of Teen Changemakers. Prior to this, he founded a youth non-profit to address talent inequity in the development sector and influence youth culture in India by inspiring, and educating university students to pursue social innovation and entrepreneurship. Yashveer has co-authored a book #ChangeStartsYoung featuring inspiring stories of young changemakers from across India. 

For his work, Yashveer has been recognized in "Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia" list in the year 2016. He was also awarded prestigious Youth Action Net 2012 Fellowship – as 1 of the 20 young social entrepreneurs representing 16 different countries by International Youth Foundation. Yashveer earned his MBA at University of Oxford, where he was the only MBA student to receive Vice-Chancellor Social Impact Award 2014 for his initiatives as Co-Chair Social Impact, Oxford Business Network (OBN). As the President of Student’s Union BITS Pilani 2006-07, Yashveer co-founded the University VISION 2020 Plan

 Yashveer is a sought after speaker on social entrepreneurship and has spoken at international conferences such as Harvard Social Entreprise Conference and London School of Economics SU Forum.