By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
Park No-hee, the dean of the School of Dentistry at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), was named Friday as the 2007 Distinguished Graduate of Seoul National University (SNU).
SNU picked the 63-year-old dental expert as the winner in recognition of his contribution to improving dental science especially regarding oral viruses and related diseases as well as mouth cancer.
Park, who enjoys a high reputation for his scientific achievements, also received an award in 2001 from the International Association for Dental Research, and was selected by UCLA as a ``distinguished professor.''
In an interview with The Korea Times in Seoul, he said colleges should no longer limit themselves to staying inside their ``Ivory Towers.'' ``Now is the time for colleges to seek ways of solving emerging social problems such as global warming, pollution and labor issues.
He said the role of universities has become all the more important in this age when all sectors of society show distrust.
``For universities to become troubleshooters in society, they must first hone their global competitiveness,'' he stressed.
Park advised Seoul National University and other Korean schools to make efforts to groom their students in such a way as to enable them to compete with their non-Korean peers worldwide. For this, outdated curricula must be boldly revamped to help Korean students learn new knowledge.
The distinguished UCLA professor expressed the view that the Korean government appears to be hesitating in giving full autonomy to universities, adding that schools can foster creative human talents only when they are given this.
Park also advised local universities to be more aggressive in raising funds for their development and furthering academic excellence. He said UCLA raises $2 billion per year. Since he became the first Korean dean of the UCLA College of Dentistry in 1998, he has raised $25 million. In recognition of this talent, he was contracted to lead the college until 2011.
He said Koreans should show magnanimity toward foreigners now living in Korea as world citizens. He lamented the parochial attitude of Koreans toward foreigners even though interracial marriages have been rising.
The national university also selected three other favored alumni for this year including Koo Pyong-hwoi, honorary CEO of E1; Lee Hyun-jae, president of the Ho-am Foundation; and Yoon Jong-yong, the vice chairman of Samsung Electronics.