Three women honored for leading the way

By Park Si-soo

Prof. Ham Si-hyun of Sookmyung Women’s University, Prof. Lim Hye-sook of Ewha Womans University and senior researcher Yoo Hyang-sook of the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology have been named as female scientists of the year, the Ministry of Science, ITC and Future Planning said on Monday.

Ham, a chemistry professor, was recognized for her commitment to developing a method analyzing the mechanism of protein aggregation that can lead to Alzheimer’s disease, cancer or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known as mad cow disease.

Lim, who teaches computer engineering at Ewha Womans University, was granted the honorary title for her development of an algorithm and hardware skeleton, which will lay the grounds to develop next-generation high-speed Internet.

Yoo, who serves as chairman of the Asia & Pacific Nation Network, was selected for her dedication to fostering the network of female scientists and engineers in the Asia-Pacific region.

The ministry has conferred the annual award since 2001 as a means to raising public awareness of female scientists and engineers in Korea.

An awards ceremony will be held at the Renaissance Seoul Hotel on Tuesday. Each woman will be given a medal and a 10 million won ($9,060) prize.