“Iljoo Foundation Supports Talents Who Will Become Leaders of Future Korean Society”

Taekwang Group Ilju Academic and Cultural Foundation, 28th Overseas PhD Scholarship Certificate Award Ceremony

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Taekwang Group Ilju Academic and Cultural Foundation announced on the 16th that it awarded scholarship certificates to six individuals selected as the 28th overseas doctoral scholarship recipients for 2020 at the Heungkuk Life Insurance Building in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

The award ceremony was held simply with only six selected scholarship recipients, including one participant located in Switzerland who joined via video call to prevent the spread of COVID-19, along with Ilju Foundation Chairman Heo Seung-jo and four final interview committee members.

The selected students are scheduled to enter doctoral programs in various fields including Materials Science and Engineering at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Astronomy and Public Health at Harvard University, Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford University, Art History at Columbia University, and Economics at the University of Pennsylvania. Notably, an Art History major, a field of basic pure academic research with fewer scholarship opportunities outside of science and engineering, was selected.

The Ilju Foundation supports each selected student with a total scholarship of $120,000 (USD) over four years to enable them to focus on their studies and research without financial difficulties.

Additionally, there are no restrictions such as requiring recipients to contribute to Taekwang Group after obtaining their doctoral degrees. This is a key principle the foundation has upheld since the start of its scholarship program, reflecting the will of the foundation’s founder, Ilju (一洲) Lee Im-yong, the founder of Taekwang Group, who intended for scholars to concentrate on their degree programs without any burdens beyond their studies and research.

Since beginning the overseas doctoral scholarship program in 1991, the Ilju Foundation has selected talented individuals evenly across various fields to promote balanced academic development by evaluating the academic capabilities and passion of scholarship recipients. Over the past 29 years, including this year’s recipients, a total of 194 scholars have been supported.

Heo Seung-jo, Chairman of the Ilju Foundation, said, "Marking the 30th anniversary of the Ilju Academic and Cultural Foundation this year, we have focused on supporting and nurturing talents who will lead the future Korean society," and added, "We ask that these talents continue the founder’s spirit of practicing ‘sharing’ and become individuals who can give back their talents to the nation and society."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.