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Special Guests Convene to Celebrate KDI School’s 25th Anniversary

  • Date 2023-01-09 17:33
  • CategoryNews
  • Hit1075

On December 5th, 2022, KDI School celebrated its silver anniversary of empowering the next generation of public policy and development practitioners worldwide. Drawing on the expertise and research of Asia’s leading think tank, Korea Development Institute (KDI), which has significantly contributed to the economic and social development of Korea, KDI School has become an internationally-recognized center for education and research in public policy and development. KDI School’s diverse faculty and student body make our institution truly special and give us a distinct character. At this 25-year mark, this is a success worth celebrating.

The KDI School 25th Anniversary Ceremony brought together 330 participants to mark the special occasion, including Korean and international alumni, faculty, and staff. The audience also included a number of special guests, including Hae-Gu Jung (Chairperson of the National Research Council for Economics, Humanities and Social Sciences), Ju-Ho Lee (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education), Minho Choi (Mayor of Sejong City), and Jae-Hyeon Park (CEO of K-water). These guests were also joined by invited guests from KDI School’s overseas partner institutions, and together they make congratulatory remarks. These were followed by speeches of gratitude made by past and present student representatives at KDI School. 

The KDI School Global Alumni Network is proud of its alumni worldwide, and 5 alumni guests were invited in recognition of their achievements as high-ranking officials. 3 international alumni from the first cohort of graduating students from the MPP program in 1998 were also invited as special guests. 

At the ceremony, KDI School Alumni Office launched its alumni working partner program, which connects alumni as working partners to accomplish mutual global goals. The program participants, alumni of KDI School, may propose new global cooperation projects or join the already existing projects by partnering with each other. Four winning teams from the KDIS alumni working partner program and representatives of alumni associations by continent arrived in Sejong; they joined not just to commemorate and re-connect with each other but also to share memories of how our school and the faculty members have contributed to their professional and personal development. 

One special guest, the Honorable Prodencia Awa Injoh, Member of Parliament for Momo East Constituency (National Assembly, Cameroon), shared her thoughts in her congratulatory remarks:

“Congratulations KDI School on this memorable day as we celebrate the Silver Jubilee. I am proudly a product of KDI School, and I remain indebted to this highly recognized institution of learning for all my achievements, which have permitted me to strive administratively and politically since I graduated in MDP 2012.”

In the afternoon, the KDIS 25th Anniversary Conference gathered the representatives of several international public policy schools: Danny Quah (Dean of Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore), Nancy Staudt (Dean of Pardee RAND Graduate School, USA), and Jacint Jordana (Director of IBEI - The Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals, Spain). The guests participated in a roundtable discussion with Professors Heung Suk Choi (Korea University) and Woo Chang Kim (KAIST). 

The conference was followed by the KDIS 25TH Anniversary Alumni Homecoming. Alumni gathered to share their stories and reflect on the past and present. Ozgur Demirkol (Deputy Director of the Regional Office of Asia and the Pacific at the IMF) delivered his congratulatory marks as an MPP alumni of the first 1998 cohort. Dana Aleksic, a representative of the South East Europe Alumni Association spoke on how to activate the engagement of alumni associations. These speakers were followed by Diana Sayuri Bayona Matsuda (MPP alumni, 2006), who shared her success story as a former Vice Minister for the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Peru.

The special events and spirit of the KDI School 25th Anniversary Ceremony provided a venue for discussing ways to achieve inclusive, sustainable, and long-term economic development. It was also not only a moment for celebration and recognition of KDI School’s contributions but also an occasion for revealing a future vision for the KDI School of Public Policy and Management. As such, the day honored not only the 25 years that have gone by but also turned our thoughts to the 25 years that are yet to come.

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