Being a great teacher not only means to have a thorough knowledge of the subjects that you teach, it also means how well you get connected with your students. Professor Byeong-Su Kim (Department of Chemistry) is an example of a truly great teacher. He has been continuously devoting himself to teaching and to the scientific research while cultivating creative young researchers at UNIST.
“Prof. Kim has been a great teacher, lecturer, and a Professor. We all are appreciative of his exemplary teaching skills and unending enthusiasm for classroom teaching,” said MinJu Park from the Combined MD/PhD degree program, offered by the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering at UNIST.
Each year, UNIST recognizes a faculty member who has demonstrated long-standing excellence in teaching and has contributed significantly to student learning. Prof. Kim has been awarded the “Best Teaching Award,” four times in a row between 2010 and 2014. Not only that, his current advisees have all been awarded the “Global Ph.D. Fellowship Program (GPF),” a competitive nationwide program provided by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF). KiYoung Jo, MinJu Park, MinSu Gu,and EungJin Ahn are MD/PhD degree candidates in the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering and currently working under the supervision of Prof. Kim at UNIST.
Prof. Kim is was appointed as an Associate Professor in Interdisciplinary School of Green Energy and School of Nano-Bioscience and Chemical Engineering in 2009. He is currently working for the Department of Chemistry and is the first professor at UNIST to produce this many recipients of GPF.
“I am proud of all my advisees,” Prof. Kim said. “I really try to help students succeed. It is rewarding to know that I can be a part of that success trajectory.”
Minsu Gu and EungJim Ahn gave their high regards to Prof. Kim as an advisor by saying, “Besides having good communication skills, great teachers possess good listening skills and never mind taking time out of their busy schedules for anyone who needs them. When it comes to conducting a research project, we can ask him almost anything without any apprehension.”
“Prof. Kim is a mentor in the most meaningful and profound sense,” says KiYoung Jo who is the recipient of Korea Talent Award from Korea Foundation for Advancement of Science & Creativity (KOFAC). He adds, “Not only has he been supportive and encouraging, he has also been acting as a liaison between students, faculty and the graduate school.”
Prof. Kim wears many academic hats. He is the recipient of the Leadership Award from English Language Institute, University of Delaware (1997), Robert L. Ferm Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award in the Department of Chemistry, University of Minesota (2005), MNACS Graduate Student Award from the Minnesota Section of the American Chemical Society (2006), Best Research Award of URP Project from Korea Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Creativity (2012), and Wiley-PSK MRC Young Scientist Award from the Polymer Society of Korea (2014). He is also a Fellow of Frontier Research Scientists from the Korean Academy of Science and Technology (2013).
