KoreaToday SolBridge Bridges Differences for Diversity
By Kim Se-jeong
Staff Reporter
DAEJEON ― Conventional wisdom tells people to look at the parents when studying a child or a family. The same wisdom is applicable to organizations: by looking at the leadership, one can learn a great deal about the entity.
The career and experience of John E. Endicott, vice chancellor of SolBridge International School of Business, proves he is a leader who knows what he is doing to make the institute truly diverse.
Endicott, 73, who is often called "Dr. Endicott,"sat down with The Korea Times in his office of the school building, sharing his past experiences and his ambitions for the institute.
"Woosong and SolBridge give me a chance to meet with young leaders who can make a real difference in the world," said Endicott, who also serves as president of Woosong University, the mother school of SolBridge.
Diversity
Korean students are rarely seen on the SolBridge campus.
In fact, as of April, the number of domestic students was only 30, out of a total of 239. The faculty is multinational as well, with professors coming from the United States, Israel and India, among others.
This demonstrates Endicott's efforts to keep the school truly international.
"We want to keep our Korean population at about 15 percent," Endicott said, in an effort to ensure the equal representation of other countries.
Endicott is firm in maintaining equality of representation, stressing the value of a multicultural environment, where the students are representatives of their countries, and can teach about their culture.
His commitment to diversity requires him to make constant trips to other countries, especially in Asia, to introduce SolBridge to prospective students.
This week, he flew to Japan to discuss possible scholarships for prospective Japanese students.
"We're also looking actively at Africa," Endicott said. Ten African students are expected to arrive this fall.
SolBridge recently signed memoranda of understanding with Indonesian high schools, each of which will send two students to the campus starting this fall.
When he returns to the United States for vacation next month, he will make visits to private and public high schools in Atlanta, his home town, where SolBridge isn't marketing actively.
"We have 100,000 Korean residents in the Atlanta area. Many of them are second or third-generation Koreans. They want to know about Korea," the vice chancellor said.
He said that a summer program SolBridge plans to offer from next summer will be a meaningful venture for those Korean descendants to learn more about Korea.
The school offers significant financial aid to enable students from Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan to study at SolBridge.
"They're so poor," he said explaining why the school set aside scholarships for students coming from the three countries.
"They are good students, and those countries are ones that respect Korea and see it as model for development. We get them engaged and give them opportunities with Korean companies before they go back to their own countries. I think it's a wonderful opportunity. The Woosong Foundation supports that too."
He said SolBridge could be a solution to the massive exodus of Korean students to English speaking countries every year, especially amid the global economic recession.
The total tuition costs for undergraduate students per year doesn't surpass $12,000, whereas the average in the United States is well beyond $20,000.
English is spoken as primary medium of communication not only in classrooms but also in daily lives of students, something that wouldn't be possible at a campus of other ordinary universities in Korea.
"There is nothing like SolBridge," the vice chancellor said.
Background
Endicott's commitment to diversity stems from his varied experiences on both the private and public levels.
He is a retired military officer with hands-on experience in Asian affairs and on the issue of nuclear weapons.
Born in Ohio, Endicott got his first job at the United States Air Force right after college. After basic training, he was sent overseas, mainly to Asia, including to Japan and Vietnam.
However, it wasn't his military career that hooked him on Asia. Rather, it was his father, a teacher. During the Second World War, the five-year-old Endicott had to wait for his father, who had gone to Japan, a deadly battle zone, to teach military personnel industrial art.
Also, he remembers well the Pearl Harbor, a massive attack on America by Japan.
"It was shock to my parents and to the whole country. That's how it got into the consciousness of a five year-old kid," he said in retrospect.
"Then, of course, my attention was on Asia. I was looking at Asia. I was looking more at Asia than Europe."
Back in the States, he worked at the Pentagon, in Washington, D.C. and was given opportunities to teach at the Air Force Academy and the National War Colleg while keeping his military duty active.
In 1986, he retired from the Air Force, putting an end to his 28-year military career.
He was soon inaugurated as director of the Institute for National Strategic Studies, a research institute in Washington, D.C. he had helped to found. After three years with the institute, he moved to Georgia Tech University in Atlanta.
There, he was the founding director of the Center for International Strategy, Technology and Policy with a focus on the integration of policy with technology.
In 1992, Endicott first introduced the concept for a "Limited Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone in Northeast Asia" to an audience of retired military men and academics in Beijing.
The 17-year old concept is still relevant. A group of intellectuals from various countries still meet regularly and a total of 12 annual meetings have taken place so far. "We keep pushing things. I am still active."
The concept turned out to be quite resonant in the nuclear-threatened region of Northeast Asia, earning him nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 and this year.
"We don't have much money or a footprint. So don't hold your breath," he said with a laugh.
The idea behind a limited nuclear weapons-free zone in Northeast Asia is to create a zone that is free of nuclear weapons in all the North Eastern Asian countries, including Mongolia.
Endicott said the ultimate aim is to realize a complete nuclear-free zone in the region, a distant dream at this point with nuclear states such as China, Russia, and the Unite States.
Endicott said last year he had invited North Koreans to a meeting, though the offer was declined.
He is married to Mitsuyo Endicott from Japan, a decision challenged by the military when they decided to marry in the 1950s.
"You had to have permission to get married. In those days, it was against law to marry across racial lines," said the vice chancellor, recalling the backdrop of his decision within the military and his struggle to overcome it.
Endicott took office at SolBridge in 2007.
"It sounded very good after 18 years at Georgia Tech doing the same thing. I'd be sitting at a pinnacle of a hub of Asia," he said.
One of the most exciting parts of his job is that he can still teach.
Last semester, he taught a one-credit course on Peace on the Korean Peninsula, encompassing history from the ancient Three Kingdoms period to contemporary Korea.
Some might argue that his background in international politics may not quite fit with the business-oriented institute.
Endicott disagrees, believing that his half-century long career in a completely different field brings diversity to the business curriculum.
"What I bring is a good personal network throughout the world, especially in Asia."
His personal network enabled him to establish the "2+2 program," a dual degree program with Georgia Tech, an aspiring program that SolBridge puts out.
The program allows undergraduate students to study for two years at SolBridge, with the other two at Georgia Tech.
He also utilizes his pool of contacts to invite guest speakers or recruit faculty members to the school.
As to what he anticipates to see from the alumni of SolBridge in a few decades, he said, " history is the foundation of all good policies. Anybody who comes out of this school will be able to make good economic policies."
