"Thanks for giving me an opportunity to visit leading overseas companies, to take lectures and to find strategic ideas.” Fifteen winters ago, at the entrance of Kimpo Airport, an executive of a major insurance company said this while grabbing the hand of Professor Jung Hong Joo of SKKU. The two met there by chance and at the time, the executive was participating in the overseas training program hosted by SKKU. The executive’s participation was made possible by the Professor Jung’s recommendation. He thanked Professor Jung for the opportunity to “break held stereotypes by looking at leading financial organizations”.
Even though short overseas training programs for undergraduate and graduate students are now widespread, it was a somewhat unfamiliar concept 15 years ago in the 1990s. Professor Jung was the first to plan the overseas program at that time. From then on, he sent workers attending graduate school and undergraduate students abroad to help them jump out of “the small pond” and learn in “the open sea”. Until now he has successfully arranged over 40 overseas programs. Since his first program, SKKU graduate and undergraduate students, called saladent (a compound of salary man and student), have learned in and experienced America, Japan, and Europe plus emerging countries such as China, India, Brazil and other nations. Professor Jung’s list of program countries is now over 40 nations long.
Overseas training as people changer
Professor Jung describes field-based education as often more important than just lectures. "Although it is important to give lectures in a university, there is no better education than making students actually visit the field and directly learn through overseas training program experience.” He added that “it is important to look outside when everyone’s looking in”. While forming close relationships with foreign companies and universities, Professor Jung has now become one of a handful of professors who have a specialty in insurance. He has published specialized insurance books like ‘Understanding Insurance Marketing’ and ‘Development of Evaluation Criteria for Occupational Health and Safety Insurance Services’. Professor Jung obtained his doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania.
Professor Jung is known for his natural affection toward students. He pays close attention to students’ concerns and enjoys debate in his programs. He has also successfully managed the Program for Talented Students of East Asia (Tokyo University) hosted by SKKU Trade Research Center until the end of last month. As soon as the Japan program ended, he began his busy schedule with evaluating Kyoto University as an evaluator of Asia Region Business Schools. When asked about his vision, he laughed answering that he “wants to establish a school in a developing nation”.
Tokyo (Japan)= Reporter Ahn Dae Kyu
「Source – excerpt from Financial News 2010. 2. 3」
●Reference: http://www.fnnews.com/view?ra=Sent1601m_View&corp=fnnews&arcid=0921891627&cDateYear=2010&cDateMonth=02&cDateDay=03