Eminent Scholar/International Scholar (ES/IS) Program

Kyung Hee University is inviting outstanding scholars from around the world to both lay the foundations for cooperative research with the world's top scholars and to improve the quality of courses taught at the University. These invitations are extended to scholars with excellent research and influential publications who are full-time faculty at foreign universities or have an equivalent record of academic achievement. These eminent and international scholars spend a research year or some other short-term period of time at Kyung Hee conducting cooperative research with University faculty, teaching courses, leading seminars, and advising students.

An Eminent Scholar (ES) is an internationally respected leader in his or her respective field of academics or a practitioner who fulfills Kyung Hee University's founding principles and creatively combines education, research, and practice through future-oriented academic activities to fulfill the role of a chair professor. An International Scholar (IS) is a foreign scholar with excellent research abilities who can contribute to the advancement of Kyung Hee's research and vitalize its international collaboration as a visiting professor.

ESs and ISs in the humanities and social sciences must have a record of two publications in an SSCI or A&HCI journal, while those in the natural and medical sciences must have three publications in an SCI journal to be invited as full-time faculty. The offers extended to these scholars are decided by the selection committee and vary according to the committee's evaluations. The ES/IS Selection Committee is comprised of each Kyung Hee campus's vice president, the dean of academic affairs, and the director of the Office of Research and University-Industry Cooperation. Kyung Hee supports the process of inviting ES/IS to the campuses and monitors welfare programs for the ES/IS and for their research results in order to maximize the program's effectiveness.

As of November 2010, a total of 68 scholars have been invited to Kyung Hee through this program. The 11 scholars whose terms ended in March 2010 produced a total of 16 papers in collaboration with Kyung Hee faculty. In addition to research, these scholars also taught courses for Kyung Hee's Global Collaborative program during the summer and winter breaks and participated in the World Civic Forum (WCF) to contribute to raising Kyung Hee's reputation and prestige. The ES/IS program is making headlines for creating various avenues for exchange with foreign universities and academic institutions