As the Dean of KDI School of Public Policy and Management, I would like to bid a most hearty welcome to the new students who are entering our School for the first time. It is always a pleasure to be here, at the beginning, to witness the students start a new chapter in their lives as they set forth on a quest to further their knowledge.

KDI School has come a long way since its first class was held back in 1998, determined to fulfill its mission of fostering global leaders in the public and private sectors around the world. I was fortunate enough to be a close witness to the growth of the School over the last fifteen years, and I cannot but confess my amazement at such an astounding rise. From the humble beginnings of 55 inaugural students, the School now boasts over 3000 alumni from more than 100 countries around the world.

During my first tenure as the Dean, the School continuously evolved itself to better suit the needs of the global society, including introducing a new degree program to support the Seoul Development Consensus for Shared growth endorsed at the Seoul G20 Summit, as well as appointing new, highly-qualified faculty to provide world-class education. We have expanded our international reach to encompass the multi-faceted dimensions of public policy, entering into MOUs with international organizations such as the ADB and the OECD, and forming new alliances with top universities around the world. The School has launched the K-Developedia, an online database of diverse resources regarding Korea’s socioeconomic development. Also, the School carried out an extensive organization reform to optimize student services. As a result of such efforts, the KDI School was designated as an Outstanding Institution by the government.

I envision even greater leaps for the School entering my second term as the Dean, as it strives to become a world-recognized educational authority in both public and development policy. In particular, the School will seek to expand even further its existing international ties to maximize the effects of sharing Korea’s development experiences, and establish a core researchžeducational infrastructure to function as the hub for development education in the Asia-Pacific region.

You, the KDI School student, will become both a process and a product of the School’s progress as ultimately, the School will be known by the actions of its students and alumni, the engine for the School’s growth. I have the utmost faith that the class of 2013 will far exceed my expectations, and that they will proudly carry on the tradition of excellence borne by those before them.