- Developed the Korean organic photochemistry area
Contributed to chemistry globally with his research achievements in Korea
(Late) Shim Sang-chul
Professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (1937~2002)
- Academic background
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1962
B.S. at College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Seoul National Univ. (Chemistry)
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1967
Ph.D. in Science at Caltech, USA (Chemistry)
- Professional career
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1969 ~ 1971
Asst. professor at Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn
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1971 ~ 1997
Professor at KAIST
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1994 ~ 1995
President of KAIST
- Awards
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1981
Order of Civil Merit, Peony Medal
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1990
Korea Science Award (Chemistry)
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1991
Sejong Culture Award (Science and Technology)
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1999
National Academy of Sciences Award
Professor Sang Chul Shim is a world-renowned researcher who contributed to the enhancement of the profile of Korean chemistry and the KAIST by pioneering organic photochemistry in Korea and fostering talented young scholars.
He graduated from Seoul National Univ. in 1962, and went abroad to the USA for study to earn a Ph.D. in science at Caltech in 1967. Graduating from Caltech, he served at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in New York from 1969. There, he was invited by the policy which established the KIST and encouraged overseas talented science persons to return to Korea and began to serve the KIST (currently the KAIST) as a professor of the Chemistry dept. in 1971.
Professor Shim wrote over 330 papers for globally renowned journals such as Journal of American Chemical Society, Journal of Organic Chemistry, Tetrahedron Letters, Photochemistry and Photobiology, Organometallics, and Macromolecules through 31 years of continued research after he was granted his Ph.D. Also in 1996, he wrote “Photochemistry of Conjugated Poliynes” on Chemical Communication, the journal with global authority and published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, as an invited feature article, which was the first case as a Korean scholar. In the 2000s, he performed a series of research on the phenomenon that soralene compound reacts to ultra-violet rays to produce phototoxicity. The research was appreciated for its originality by the National Cancer Institute under the National Institute of Health, USA and supported with expenses for seven years.
Through these active research efforts, he leveled up the Korean chemistry’s academic standards as well as proving to international academic circles that we could perform international level research accomplishments in Korea, too. During his 30 years of lecturing at the KAIST, he greatly enhanced the international profile of Korean chemistry. Especially, he led the research on organic photochemistry, which was underdeveloped in Korea, and succeeded to publish many research results that were globally appreciated. This is especially meaningful as the research was implemented within Korea without participation by other countries. He fostered 69 masters and 36 Ph.D.s during his term from 1971 when he began lecturing at the KAIST until his retirement due to age in 1997.
His students of over 100 have broadened the horizon of Korean chemistry via active research in schools, institutes, industries, etc. based on his experience with world-level study.
The government recognized such meritorious achievements and granted him an Order of Civil Merit, Peony Medal (1981), Korea Science Award (1990), Sejong Culture Award (1991), and National Academy of Sciences Award (1999), and he served as a life member of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology. He also engaged in lots of activities for the development of Korean chemistry, not just for his own research. He organized and operated the Monthly Organic Chemistry Seminar from 1976, when he was serving at the KAIST and the seminar became the beginning of the subdivision seminar activities of the Korean Chemistry Society. In addition, he contributed to the vitalization of international exchanges in the chemistry arena by organizing the Korea-Japan Organic Chemistry Symposium. Based on that contribution, he was appointed as the 30th President of the Korean Chemistry Society in 1996. He also led the development of the KAIST, taking up posts such as the dean of the graduate school and the president (1994~1995).
As organic photochemistry can explain the process of many factors of organic compounds and light with complex interactions, it has a variety of applicable value, such as toxic tests for living things, new drug development, catalyst development, etc. and has infinite potential for utilization for basic research, such as in mutations and cancer research. Professor Shim newly developed this prospective research area of organic photochemistry in Korea and founded the capable research group, broadening the horizon of the Korean chemistry community and raising the research standards up to that of international levels in a short period of time.