– Professor Bae-ho Park of the Department of Physics at Konkuk University has made globally recognized achievements in nanomaterials research.
– Handong Global University has leapt forward as a prestigious private institution with its intensive education of the small number of selected students, overcoming the limitations of a local university.
– Dr. Cynthia Maung and Bina Swadaya have been jointly awarded the Community Development and Philanthropy Prize. The award ceremony will be held on March 25.
Professor Bae-ho Park
On February 6, the POSCO TJ Park Foundation held the board of directors meeting and selected the awardees of the 2015 POSCO TJ Park Prize: TJ Park Science Prize will be awarded to Professor Bae-ho Park (44) of the Department of Physics at Konkuk University; Education Prize to Handong Global University; and Community Development and Philanthropy Prize to Dr. Cynthia Maung (56) and Bina Swadaya (NGO).
Professor Bae-ho Park (44) of the Department of Physics at Konkuk University is a world-renowned physicist in the areas of condensed matter physics and nanoscience. Professor Park previously received the Cheng-Ning Yang Award (2013) by the Association of Asia Pacific Physical Societies (AAPPS), recognized for his discovery of the domain in graphene with a significantly different friction force (friction anisotropy-driven domain) and for his achievements in making nanomaterials and nanodevices and measuring and studying new physical phenomena. Professor Park has published over 150 papers at the standard of the Science Citation Index (SCI) and has over 6,000 citations.
Handong Global University, founded in 1995, has leapt forward as a prestigious private institution with its intensive education for the small number of selected students, overcoming disadvantages such as the location outside of Seoul and financial shortages. Since the outstanding education system of the university came known throughout the country, it has been applied to by distinguished students from all around the country, including the Seoul capital area. The university is contributing to the promotion of regional balance and equality by selecting students without concentration on a particular region (34% from Seoul capital area, 27% from Gyeongsang province, 12% from Jeolla province, 12% from Chungcheng province, and 13% from abroad).
Dr. Cynthia Maung
Dr. Cynthia Maung, one of the joint awardees of the TJ Park Community Development and Philanthropy Prize, is called the “Mother Teresa of Burma.” An ethnic Karen, Dr. Maung graduated from the Institute of Medicine 2, Yangon in 1986, and started the Mae Tao Clinic in 1989 to treat the injured and children. The Mae Tao Clinic is visited by about 400 patients every day, the majority of whom are refugees, immigrants, and the disadvantaged. Approximately 150,000 patients are treated by about 250 volunteers a year.
Drs. Bambang Ismawan, MS. – Bina Swadaya Founder and Chairman Board of Trustee
In 2005, Dr. Maung was nominated as part of the 1,000 Women Nobel Peace Prize Nomination and, in 2008 she was awarded the Catalonia International Prize along with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
Bina Swadaya is the oldest Indonesian NGO and has contributed to developing local communities and eradicating the poverty of farmers. The name Bina Swadaya means self-reliance and developing human resources. In keeping with its name, Bina Swadaya is a non-profit organization and helps people who are poor and lack ability to be self-reliant. Since it has been operating steadily for over 50 years despite the unstable political and economic situations in Indonesia, it is considered a leading social enterprise in the Asian region.
The 2015 POSCO TJ Park Prize awards ceremony will be held on March 25 at the POSCO Center, and award money of KRW 200 million will be given to each of the awardees, respectively (KRW 100 million each for joint awardees).
The POSCO TJ Park Prize was established in 2006 to honor the achievements of POSCO’s Honorary Chairman Park Tae-joon and to further spread the company’s founding spirit of ‘respecting creativity, nurturing talent, and promoting philanthropy.’
