Dear members and alumni of SNU Business School,

Now that we slowly extricate ourselves from the COVID-19 pandemic, the campus has regained its past liveliness. While it may take some time to get used to teaching in classes without wearing face masks, I have been extremely grateful for the in-person events I had taken for granted in the past. Last year, we hosted festivals for undergraduate and graduate students at SNU Business School. We have also resumed the departmental graduation ceremony, which has not been since 2016, where our faculty members had the heartfelt opportunity to congratulate the students by shaking hands.

A year has passed since I was appointed the 20th dean of SNU Business School last January. Time has flown by, and although I have not been able to carry out everything as planned, there have been many changes in the system, and wonderful spaces have been newly created on campus. Five “Future Industry Forums” have also been held where academia, industry, and the government gathered together to explore ideas and discuss how to vitalize the ecosystem of various future industries, such as digital asset trading, online platforms, artificial intelligence, metaverse/NFT, and Fintech.

“The SNUBIZ Entrepreneurship Fund,” a fund created by fellow alumni to encourage SNU Business School students and graduates to launch new businesses, will be provided to outstanding entrepreneurship teams at the “SNUBIZ Entrepreneurship Competition,” held later this month. I look forward to meeting successful entrepreneurs a few years along this path who will remember this day with fondness and gratitude. Whether it was “thanks to COVID-19” or “despite COVID-19,” competition was fierce at the EMBA Program and the Advanced Management Program as the number of applications exploded. The training programs provided by the Institute of Management Research have also been a huge success.

Last year, Seoul National University announced its mid to long-term development plan (2022-2040). It has been a decade since the SNU Business School announced our mid to long-term development plan, so not many people would remember its content. This is why we are also working on presenting our own mid to long-term business plan this year. Please look forward to it, and do not hesitate to reach out if you have any good thoughts to share.

The year 2022 was harsh, not only because of COVID-19 but due to the war in Ukraine and inflation. Perhaps that is why this past winter was unusually cold. Now that we greet the warm spring weather, I suggest we all think of new goals and mid to long-term plans. We will continue to move forward one step at a time as we dream of a great future for the SNU Business School. Thank you for your constant encouragement and support.