Profile

Education

• May 2005, Ph.D. in Applied and Computational Mathematics, Princeton University.
  • Advisor: Paul Seymour. Thesis: Graphs of Bounded Rank-width
• Nov 2003, M.A. in Applied and Computational Mathematics, Princeton University.
• Feb 1998, B.S. in Mathematics, KAIST.

Academic Positions

• Aug 2024 – : Discrete Mathematics Group, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Daejeon, Korea.
  • Distinguished Research Fellow^{수석연구위원}

• Sep 2025 – : Adjunct Professor (겸직교수), Department of Mathematical Sciences, KAIST.
• Jan 2008 – July 2024: Department of Mathematical Sciences, KAIST, Daejeon, Korea.
  • Assistant Professor (Jan 2008 – Feb 2011), Associate Professor (Mar 2011 – Aug 2016), Professor (Sep 2016 – July 2024), KAIST Endowed Chair Professor (Mar 2023 – July 2024)
• Sep 2015 – Nov 2018: School of Mathematics, KIAS, Seoul, Korea.
  • Affiliate Professor
• Jan 2007 – Dec 2007: Department of Combinatorics and Optimization, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
  • Postdoctoral fellow
• Aug 2005 – Dec 2006: School of Mathematics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
  • Visiting Assistant Professor

Editorial Activities

For a complete record of service activities, see Service.

• SIAM Journal on Computing
• Graphs and Combinatorics
• Electronic Journal of Combinatorics
• Journal of the Korean Mathematical Society

Awards

2023

• KAIST Endowed Chair Professor (KAIST 지정석좌교수), KAIST, March 2023.

2022

• Choi Seok-Jeong Award of the year, Minister of Science and ICT, Korea, Dec. 13, 2022. (올해의 최석정상)

2021

• Excellent Teaching Award (for an undergraduate major course in 2020 Fall), College of Natural Sciences, KAIST (자연과학대학 우수강의상). March 2021.

2017

• A founding member of Y-KAST (Young Korean Academy of Science and Technology, 한국차세대과학기술한림원), Feb. 2017.

2015

• Special Contribution Award, Korean Mathematical Society. Oct. 24, 2015.
• Excellent Teaching Award (for an undergraduate major course in 2014 Fall), College of Natural Sciences, KAIST (자연과학대학 우수강의상). Feb. 28, 2015.

2013

• Hanrim Leading Scientist (한림선도과학자), The Korean Academy of Science and Technology (한국과학기술한림원). Dec. 5, 2013.

2012

• Young Scientist Award (젊은과학자상), President of Korea. Selected by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (교육과학기술부) and the Korean Academy of Science and Technology (한국과학기술한림원). Dec 21, 2012.

2011

• Outstanding New Young Researcher Support Program (우수신진연구자지원사업), National Research Foundation of Korea, 2011. Grant period: May 2011 – April 2016. 200 million won per year.
• Excellent Teaching Award (for an undergraduate major course in 2010 Fall), College of Natural Sciences, KAIST (자연과학대학 우수강의상). February 2011.

2010

• Ewon Assistant Professorship (이원조교수), KAIST, October 15, 2010.
• KMS Excellent Research Paper Award (대한수학회 논문상), Korean Mathematical Society, April 24, 2010.

2009

• TJ Park Junior Faculty Fellowship (청암과학펠로), POSCO TJ Park Foundation, November 25, 2009.

2007

• CanaDAM Conference Travel Support

2005

• APGA (Association of Princeton Graduate Alumni/ae) Summer Travel Fellowship

2001

• Princeton University Fellowship

1996

• First place in 1996 National Undergraduate Mathematics Competition (1996 대학생수학경시대회 대상), Korean Mathematical Society.

1993

• Gold Medal in 1993 National Personal Computer Programming Competition (전국 컴퓨터 프로그래밍 경진대회 금상), Ministry of Science and Technology, Korea.

1992

• Gold Medal in 1992 Korean Mathematical Olympiad (1992 한국수학올림피아드 금상), Korean Mathematical Olympiad.