Propelling Global Momentum
Strategic partnerships in South Korea are amplifying Stony Brook’s impact across research, education and discovery
BY Shelley Catalano
Stony Brook University’s relationship with South Korea spans decades, far exceeding any single program or enterprise. It has grown into a powerful network of students, faculty, alumni, universities and business partners. Beyond the influence of SUNY Korea — the first American university campus established in the country — the reach extends through recruitment efforts, study abroad opportunities and alumni working across Korea’s high-tech industries. Together, these connections are strengthening Stony Brook’s role as a hub for academic excellence, global engagement and research innovation.
Provost Carl W. Lejuez and Dean Andrew Singer (center) on a visit to Hyundai to continue forging business partnerships.
“The bond between South Korea and Stony Brook is invaluable. Our alumni are among the most influential leaders in South Korea and they are a driving force behind Stony Brook’s robust and growing foothold in the nation,” said Carl W. Lejuez, Stony Brook provost and executive vice president and chair of the SUNY Korea Board of Managers. “Our excellent degree programs at SUNY Korea and our partnerships with other universities, including Sogang University and aSSIST University, provide a strong foundation to leverage our alumni’s vision for students from around the world to start their Stony Brook journey in South Korea.”
“South Korea is one of our most important recruiting markets — the students we bring from Korea are exceptional, and our presence there through our university partnerships gives us a meaningful advantage in reaching them. But this relationship goes well beyond recruitment,” said Andrew Singer, dean, the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences. “Every connection we deepen there opens new doors for research collaboration, and for the kind of global career pathways that define what a Stony Brook engineering education can be.”
Building the Foundation
Hyun-Soon Lee, PhD ‘81, chairman of the board of trustees for Chung-Ang University, with Provost Lejuez.
While Stony Brook had been recruiting students for its engineering programs for many years, the university entered a new phase in Korea in the early 2010s. At that time, SBU had partnerships with 15 Korean universities (now up to 31) to offer students a broad selection of exchange programs, but no American universities had a presence there. That changed with the help of esteemed alumnus Myung Oh, PhD ’72 (see sidebar), currently the honorary president of SUNY Korea.
Through his careers in government and academia, Oh realized that “world-class universities are essential to national progress.” With that vision, he was inspired to build the Stony Brook-Korea collaboration, first with CEWIT Korea — modeled after Stony Brook’s Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology — and later by helping guide SUNY Korea through years of approvals from the South Korean Ministry of Education and the State University of New York system.
In March 2012, SUNY Korea welcomed its first 34 students, who could choose to study from Stony Brook undergraduate and graduate programs in applied mathematics and statistics, business, computer science, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and technological systems management. The curriculum continues to expand: a new master’s of science program in data science was added for Fall 2025, with plans to add an undergraduate program in coming years.
Earlier this year, the largest class to date — 181 students — began their studies. With more than 1,000 graduates from over 70 countries, alumni now make their mark across Korea, the United States and Europe in fields such as academia, data analysis, finance, mechanical engineering, quality assurance, research and development and software engineering. Graduates are contributing to organizations such as Bank of Korea, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Hyundai, Intel, LG Innotek, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, Samsung and TikTok.
“SUNY Korea puts SBU on the map of international education and positions us as a leader in global education and research,” said Imin Kao, executive director of SUNY Korea academic programs and a Stony Brook professor of mechanical engineering.
“Our exceptional faculty at SUNY Korea pride themselves on preparing students to be history makers who will change the world,” said Arthur Lee, president, SUNY Korea. “As our graduates join the workforce as highly skilled leaders, they amplify economic development and impact not just in Korea, but across the globe.”
The campus was the first to “provide Korean students with access to a global standard of education while also serving as a hub in Asia for collaboration among scholars from around the world,” said Oh. “Today, SUNY Korea continues to advance that vision, strengthening SBU’s long-standing partnership with Korea while fostering global academic collaboration in the region.”
Images from SBU students who have studied in South Korea
FLY Ahead
The global collaboration continues through enhanced study abroad offerings, giving more SBU students opportunities to expand their horizons. In 2024, the Office of Global Affairs launched its Freshman Launch Year (FLY) initiative, which offered incoming students the choice to study abroad during their first semester in one of three locations: Florence University of the Arts, Italy; Sogang University in Seoul, Korea; and Tongji University in Shanghai, China. For Fall 2026, FLY expanded its offerings with a fourth location at SUNY Korea.
“When we first started thinking about FLY, there were really two main ideas driving it,” said Mariam Isack, assistant dean, International Academic Programs. “One was to reach a group of international students who are often overlooked in traditional U.S. admissions cycles, particularly students who graduate high school in December. We saw that gap and thought, why not create a way for them to be Seawolves right away?
“Through our partnership with Sogang University, we are now able to have those students begin their academic journey in March,” she added. “At the same time, there is a growing interest among U.S. students to study abroad in Asia and, in particular, South Korea. Those two ideas really came together, and that is what FLY has become — a program that supports both international and domestic students in starting their SBU experience abroad.”
In 2024, nine students traveled to Sogang. In Fall 2025, 22 students started their Seawolf journey there, and more are hoping to go this year. Isack added that most U.S. first-semester study abroad programs still focus on traditional European destinations, making South Korea a distinctive early-semester option that aligns with international academic calendars. This makes the SBU FLY program “unique in that starting a first semester abroad in South Korea is still pretty rare.”
Also seeing growth are SBU’s existing study abroad programs in Korea. “Since 2024, we have seen a noticeable [increase in] participation, with some terms now reaching over 40 students,” she said. “In fact, Korea’s share of overall study abroad participation has grown from around 8% to 20% in recent terms. Korea has really evolved from a steady destination into one of our fastest-growing study abroad locations.”
PIONEERING PATHS
The foundation of Stony Brook’s partnership with South Korea dates to the 1970s and ’80s, when Korean students began coming to the United States in larger numbers to study. Among them were two SBU students who would become giants in their respective fields, going on to shape Korea’s national technology and industry landscape.
Myung Oh
Myung Oh, a key architect of Korea’s information and communications technology, earned his PhD in electrical engineering in 1972. When he returned to Korea, he became a professor at the Korea Military Academy. In 1981, he was appointed the youngest-ever vice minister of communications and in 1987 rose to minister of communications. It was during this time that he played a pivotal role in the technological transformation of the country.
“At Stony Brook, I studied in an environment with advanced laboratories, rigorous engineering training and a culture that encouraged scientific inquiry. That experience reinforced my conviction that technological capability and higher education are essential pillars of a nation’s long-term development,” he said.
When Oh returned to Korea after graduating from SBU, one of the most urgent challenges was the country’s telecommunications system — installing a telephone line could take more than a year. “During my tenure at the Ministry of Communications, we transformed the system so that telephone service could be connected the same day it was requested. This reform modernized Korea’s national telecommunications network and laid the foundation for the country’s IT infrastructure,” he said. “It later supported many milestones as Korea emerged on the global stage, including the communications systems behind the Seoul Olympics, major infrastructure such as high-speed rail, and Korea’s emergence as one of the world’s most advanced digital societies.”
In addition to his career in government, Oh contributed to growth in academia in Korea as president of Ajou University (2002–2003) and later president of Konkuk University (2006–2010).
“Looking back, Stony Brook played a defining role in shaping both my career and my vision for Korea’s future,” he said, noting that vision would later inspire the creation of SUNY Korea. “Helping bring Stony Brook to Korea felt like completing a full circle — creating opportunities for new generations of students to experience the same global education that once shaped my own path.”
Hyun-Soon Lee
Hyun-Soon Lee, an innovator in Korea’s automobile engine development, earned his PhD in mechanical engineering in 1981. He decided to pursue his degree at Stony Brook because Korea’s research infrastructure was limited at that time and he sought more practical training, which SBU offered. That experience ultimately led to a game-changing invention.
“Stony Brook provided the hands-on environment I needed,” Lee said. “In the lab, I was testing radical ideas, analyzing why engines broke and learning how to fix them. There, I realized that meaningful progress comes from repeatedly learning from mistakes.”
After graduating, Lee returned to Korea and joined Hyundai Motor Group as its first R&D researcher, later serving as executive vice chairman for R&D and eventually leading more than 15,000 researchers. He led development of Hyundai’s first proprietary engine (the Alpha engine), marking Korea’s transition away from imported engine technology. That single design stayed in production for 22 years and powered 14 million vehicles, contributing to Korea’s emergence in the global automotive industry.
“Ultimately, my time at Stony Brook taught me that true innovation is built on the courage to fail,” he said. “If your success rate is 100%, you aren’t truly challenging yourself. Real breakthroughs require the courage to take risks and the resilience to learn from every failure.”