To beloved everyone,

 

This is KIM, Hyuncheol, the newly promoted dean of the graduate school, also as a tenure professor from the Chinese Language and Literature department.

 

There is a statute in front of the Stimson Building built in 1920, which everyday we are passing by, but paying less attention to. That is the statute of Mr. Underwood. No matter in a tranquil rainy day of autumn or a fluffy snowy day of winter, we just pass by in a hurry without giving a serious thought to looking at his stature closely.

 

As a truth, having more than 50 thousand master degree students and 16 thousand doctoral degree students graduated from, the Yonsei Graduate School has become the genuine leading academical and educational institution in Korea. At present, there are more than 13 thousand students enrolled in the graduate programs with including 91 independent majors, 27 interdisciplinary programs and 30 collaborative programs. All these truths enable the Yonsei Graduate School become a utopian academia world fulfilled with freedom.

 

In spite of the extreme harsh time of the Japanese invading occupancy and the unrest caused by the Korean War, the Yonsei Graduate School has always been blossoming while cultivating excellent Yonsei graduate students. We are all proud of this.

 

Today, it seems that everything is materialism-centered, however, there are still numerous academic contributors who are doing their best with the belief that the boundaries among the researching fields have gradually become blurred under the seemingly surficial independence from each discipline. No matter in the past of at the current, the ultimate goal of us remains unchanged, that is, to cultivate academic heirs and genuine superior educators for the future. Even though the times and social environment have changed immensely, the spiritual value which support us to stand still is always the unshakable truth.

 

Nowadays, the 4^th Industrial Revolution is often heard and it is said it calls for the era of AI and hyperconnected society. Facing these rapid generation changes, we still believe doing the academic research is the most important key. Our professors, researchers, faculties and students are the most intelligent than ever. Apart of the materialism-centered values, the Yonsei Graduate School attracts abundant brilliant students, and our academic researchers who strive to defend our belief are endeavoring hard to seek new methodologies in order to face the forthcoming challenges.

 

If we equip ourselves internally with academic rigor and communicate externally with the public as members of society, striving to spread the spiritual values we cherish, I believe we can become worthy successors to the predecessors who stand in front of the building, looking at us every day. Academic depth and communication with the public are not two separate paths but rather one path. To enclose this greeting, I invite you to join us in strengthening this path together.