Institutions
KAIST was founded with government funding and was initially staffed with a number of Korean engineers and scientists educated in the United States. From the onset, the emphasis has been in theoretical as well as applied research. KAIST continues to be Korea's foremost center of strategic research and development projects. The University helped pioneer the establishment of competitive research oriented graduate school programs in Korea.
The University's some 540 faculty conducts research in cooperation with academies and industries all over the world. KAIST offers grants and fellowships to international students.
The present KAIST president is Nam Pyo Suh. Soon-Heung Chang, a nuclear scientist, serves as provost and Ji-won Yang, a chemical engineer, as vice president for external affairs.
The University has for many decades recruited faculty from overseas. Current president Nam Pyo Suh taught for many years at MIT. His predecessor, Robert Laughlin, a Nobel laureate and a physics professor at Stanford University, was the first non-Korean to head a Korean university.
The vast majority of professors come from US higher education institutions. The school engages in many international programs with leading European and Asian universities. The university is a member of LAOTSE, an international network of universities in Europe and Asia. It is also a member of the Association of East Asian Research Universities.
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