Jung Da-hyun is a reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues in Korea, including foreign residents, education, environment and politics. Driven by a deep interest in people’s stories, she focuses on investigative and feature reporting through direct interviews and field coverage. She received the Amnesty International Korea Media Award for her “Deepfake Crisis at Schools” series. Reach her at dahyun08@koreatimes.co.kr. Always open to hearing your stories.
STEM professors take helm of Korean universities in AI era
A student reviews recruitment materials at a science and engineering job fair at Seoul National University in Gwanak District, Seoul, March 3. Yonhap
By Jung Da-hyun
Policy support, research-driven rankings propel science-trained leadership
A growing number of professors with backgrounds in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are being appointed as university presidents, demonstrating a rapid shift in the leadership landscape that underscores a broader refocusing of institutional priorities toward research and advanced technology.
As the government ramps up support for industry-academia collaboration and pushes to expand the advanced tech workforce, even universities long known for their strengths in the humanities are pivoting to expand their focus on natural sciences and engineering.
Among institutions ranked in the top 30 of The Korea Times K-universities Global Excellence Rankings 2026, 19 institutions — a clear majority — are led by presidents with backgrounds in natural sciences or engineering.
Hanyang University’s ERICA campus, ranked 19th, was excluded as it shares the same president as the main campus. To account for 30 distinct university leaders, the analysis was extended to include the 31st-ranked institution.
The trend shows a sharp reversal from a decade ago. In 2016, 17 of the 30 presidents, or 56.7 percent, came from humanities and social sciences. This year, however, those with STEM backgrounds account for 63.3 percent.
The shift is even more pronounced at the top. Among the top 10 universities, the number of presidents with science and engineering backgrounds has risen from just two a decade ago to five this year, more than doubling over the period.
Notably, four universities — Kyung Hee University, Ewha Womans University, Chung-Ang University and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) — have, for the first time in their history, appointed presidents with STEM backgrounds.
Graphic by Bae So-young
Universities’ growing preference for presidents with STEM backgrounds is widely attributed to a shift in government funding and evaluation systems that prioritize research output and industry-academia collaboration.
The Ministry of Education’s major funding programs, including Leaders in INdustry-university Cooperation and Brain Korea 21, have shifted toward boosting research capacity and industry ties, driving demand for leadership aligned with those priorities.
At HUFS — long recognized for its strength in foreign language education — the new president is moving quickly to drive the expansion of science and engineering.
Within a month of taking office in March, HUFS President Kang Kee-hoon signed a memorandum of understanding with Naver Cloud to build a smart campus and struck a separate agreement with LG CNS to expand industry-academia cooperation, including contract-based education programs to train students in artificial intelligence.
“There is growing expectation within the university that, given his background, Kang can both preserve its identity and respond more swiftly to the demands of a rapidly changing era,” a university official said.
A similar shift is evident at Ewha Womans University, long known for its strength in the humanities.
In an interview with The Korea Times in August last year, Ewha President Lee Hyang-sook said a growing consensus had emerged regarding the need to strengthen competitiveness in science and engineering in response to changing times.
“Being elected as president reflects expectations that I will take a more scientific approach and expand opportunities in science and engineering,” said Lee, who was a mathematics professor.
Global ranking systems have also fueled the rise in presidents with STEM backgrounds. QS assigns about 50 percent of the scores in its World University Rankings to research indicators, while the Times Higher Education rankings give 59 percent weight to research, including its environment and quality.
Chung-Ang University, which appointed its first president with a STEM background in March, said the move reflects the institution’s push to center science and technology-driven leadership.
“The decision was aimed at building an ecosystem where education, research and industry collaboration are closely integrated, and demonstrating tangible outcomes and performance,” a university official said.
Government policy has reinforced the shift. As Seoul pushes to cultivate more workers in the semiconductors and biotechnology fields, universities are expanding related programs, with more science and engineering faculty moving into key administrative roles beyond their presidential offices.