KAIST names Bae Choong-sik as 18th president

KAIST has selected mechanical engineering professor Bae Choong-sik as its new president.

The KAIST Board of Trustees held an extraordinary meeting Monday at the KAIST Kim Jaechul AI Graduate School in Yangjae-dong, Seoul, and named Bae as the 18th president of KAIST.

The appointment will be finalized after the Minister of Education gives consent and the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT grants approval.

Bae is widely recognized as an authority in eco-friendly energy and carbon-neutral propulsion engineering. He earned his undergraduate degree in aeronautical engineering from Seoul National University and his doctorate in mechanical engineering from Imperial College London. Since joining KAIST in 1998, he has served in key administrative roles, including head of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and dean of the College of Engineering. His academic achievements in energy and carbon neutrality have earned him a Korea Electric Power endowed professorship, underscoring his standing as a researcher and educator.

He led the COVID-19 Response Science and Technology New Deal Task Force during the pandemic, helping build a science-based crisis response framework. As chair of the Carbon Neutral Fuel Technology Research Council, he has shaped policy on future propulsion technologies for climate action and the energy transition. He has also contributed to national science and technology policymaking as a full member of the National Academy of Engineering of Korea and as chair of the climate subcommittee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Science and Technology Diplomacy Advisory Committee.

In recognition of his research and policy contributions, Bae became the first Korean named an SAE Fellow — the highest distinction in the propulsion field — by the Society of Automotive Engineers International. He has also received a presidential commendation and a National Assembly merit award for his contributions to the automotive industry and national competitiveness.

KAIST said it expects Bae to lead research in convergence science and technology and strengthen the university's standing as a world-class research institution, drawing on his expertise in energy and carbon neutrality and his record as a policy leader.