The National Research Foundation of Korea announced on the 28th that it has appointed Professor Kang Joo-won of Yeungnam University's Department of Architecture as the Director General of the Basic Research Headquarters, effective June 1, 2025.
Director General Kang graduated from Sungkyunkwan University with a degree in architectural engineering in 1986 and received his master's in structural engineering from Sungkyunkwan University and his master's and doctoral degrees in structural engineering from Michigan State University in the United States. He has been a professor at Yeungnam University's Department of Architecture since 2000. From 2010 to 2014, he served as an expert member of the Engineering Division of the Basic Research Headquarters at the National Research Foundation of Korea, and held positions such as vice president of the Korean Institute of Architects, president of the Korean Society of Spatial Structures, vice president of the Korean Society of Structural Diagnosis and Maintenance Engineering, and a director of the Korean Society of Steel Construction.
Director General Kang Joo-won will be responsible for evaluating and managing the support projects related to the engineering division entrusted by the government, business planning, proposing mid- to long-term development plans and policy establishment and consultation, budget allocation, progress monitoring and promoting the utilization of results, investigating and analyzing research demand, technology forecasting, and research trends, and external cooperation for a period of two years.