Kwangwoon University

Kwangwoon university

광운대학교
Motto	Practice diligence and economy, Seek thyself a work
Type	Private
Established	1934 (1934)
Chairman	Shin, Chul-Sik
President	Chun, Jang-ho
Academic staff	331 (full-time Professor) 108 (adjunct Professor) 419 (Lecturer)
Administrative staff	234 (2015)
Students	10,106 (2015)
Undergraduates	8,751 (2015)
Postgraduates	1,355 (2013)
Location	Seoul, South Korea
Nickname	Pegasus
Website	www.kw.ac.kr

Kwangwoon University (or Kwang-Woon or KW) is a private research university in Seoul (Wolgye Dong, Nowon Gu), South Korea. Kwangwoon University has been recognized for its academic reputation in engineering and IT fields. Kwangwoon University was ranked 56th in Asia in field of Engineering in the 2014 and 2015 by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) and ranked 16th in Korea in field of Science and Engineering in 2015 by Korea Economic Daily (한국경제신문) Among its alumni are Jongkyun Shin (JK Shin) (Currently Co-Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and president of Samsung Electronics),Jae Ryung Lee (CEO of Ericsson-LG Enterprise ) and Inbee Park (professional golfer).

Kwangwoon started as Chosun Radio Training Center (Global Telecommunication Network Center today) established to promote the advancement of radio technical knowledge and understanding, independent of government and free of Japan. It was renamed in 1940 as the Chosun Institute of Radio Engineering.

Started as Dong-guk Electronics College in 1962, the school became Kwangwoon Institute of Technology in 1964 and a four-year granting Kwangwoon University in 1987.

After Hwado Kwangwoon Cho (Kwangwoon University Founder) died in 1980, with the effort of Musung Cho (the first president Kwangwoon University and currently the 14th Chairman of Kwangwoon Foundation) and many faculties and students, the school became a comprehensive university in 1987. Since then, the Kwangwoon University's reputation and fame heightened as the first educational institution to start wireless communication school and the first school to offer electronics classes to college students in Korean history. Until 1995, the university was ranked top 10 overall and top 3 in the engineering fields in South Korea.

Kwangwoon as a Businessman

Hwado Cho,Kwangwoon was a gifted businessman. He started out as an employee at a Japanese general merchandise store. Gaining experiences from an attorney's office as a translator & administrator, as a taxi driver, at a rice exchange office, and as a cotton store owner, when Kwangwoon was only 18 years old he obtained so much wealth that he was well known in the Incheon city (he started his businessin Hwado, Incheon) as a rich boy. Having lived during the period of Japanese colony, Hwado (nickname) Cho, Kwangwoon (1899~1980) was also involved in the Korean independent movement in Shanghai, China during his teen age. However, the independent movement leader recognized that Cho, Kwangwoon's talent lay in the academia and suggested to him to study abroad to contribute to the Korean education field so that Korea can be independent from the enforcement of Japanese teachings. Then, the boy was sent to Japan to enroll at Waseda University's department of politics & economics, at the time the only private university in Japan.