Enjoy Challenging the Challenges with Math
임홍근 (수학 68)
Congratulations on the College of Science for its 70th anniversary this year (2023). Korea University (KU) was founded in 1905 to uphold “Liberty, Justice and Truth.” This philosophy has been well reflected in the Motto of Korea, “Hongik Ingan (홍익인간).” This motto is intended to broadly benefit the human world and/or to devote to the welfare of humanity. In the pursuit of these worthwhile causes, KU students have been educated to be more intelligent (aka Jih-Sung) and to develop a strong spirit of patriotism (aka Yah-sung). In addition, they had been trained to develop open-minded leadership skills for the global community. To this end, KU has made remarkable contributions to the advancement of humanity by overcoming various huddles over a century. Most of these historical events and related activities have been well documented and displayed for future generations at the KU (100th anniversary) Museum. In this regard, it is commendable to start compiling important documents about historic events for the 70th anniversary of the College of Science. Thus, I express my sincere gratitude to Prof. Yang (SungDeog), Dean of the College, for his leadership to initiate this important endeavor. This writing is to share my experiences and unforgettable memories at KU.
In 1968, I began my college life with a BIG dream to be a great (Math) teacher and scholar. During my school years (1968~1972), Korea was in chaos and divided into many different groups. As one of the poorest countries in the world, Korea needed to implement good economic development programs for industrialization to create more jobs. During the three phases of (5-year) economic development programs in the late 1970s, Korea’s economy grew rapidly to achieve the Han-River miracle. Thus, Korea became one of developed countries in a short time. However, some people demanded for more freedom, fairness, and justice in the society (aka democratization movement). These two conflicts resulted in numerous demonstrations and upheavals in the society and even in university campuses. Unfortunately, we still encounter dark news of various demonstrations in a developed society. These two conflicts could have been resolved through mutual understanding and reconciliating efforts for the betterment of our nation. As history repeats, they became political issues to put our country in chaos with many divisions even these days (2023).
Continued demonstrations and social upheavals resulted in partial or full closures of universities by the Government order. Many classes and campus activities had been blocked or cancelled. This had big impacts on Korean economy and academic fields (loss of valuable resources for production, learning, and research activities). Some of my old textbooks clearly testify its impacts with underlines up to 30 pages. In spite of these troubles, we could manage to maintain academic excellence with the help of Math professors with these words, “Study first; later go out for demonstrations, if needed.” In Appendix, there are several interesting pictures to share my good memories of good old days at KU.
In 1973, I obtained my first goal to be a teacher (dream job), and I started teaching Math at S (and D) High School (Seoul). I had not been satisfied because I taught the same (Math) stuffs to students of similar-age groups year after year. Finding my bliss was not a factor in any Math equations. Math is the foundation of knowledge to discover properties of elements and relationships therein. I wanted to face a new challenge(s) in different field(s) to which my Math skills could be applied for more productive causes.
After serios consideration, I thought Math could be a perfect fit for (corporate) Finance. Math skills can be used in achieving the goal of a firm, which is to maximize its value for all stakeholders by efficiently allocating its capital. In 1977, I began to study for an MBA degree at the Graduate School of Business, Seoul National University. It was hard to catch up the classes while teaching Math at high schools (two-job life). The topics of business courses were new and difficult for me to digest without any decent background. But I successfully finished the program with the help of strong Math skills and earned an MBA degree (Finance) in 1979.
During the periods of fast economic growth in late 1970s, MBA graduates could easily find three or 4 decent jobs. I landed a job at S Corp. (another dream job). Here, I could not be fully satisfied due to many routines, and lack of flexibility and opportunities for self-developments. I had to finish all the assignments in time for the department and company (for the salary). My ambition drove me to face another challenge for a better-quality life. Based on good social networks with the MBA degree, I ended up with a job as a research fellow at the Korea Development Institute. I had enough flexibility and ample opportunities for self-developments. Here, I worked hard to make some contribution for the Korean economy during the 3rd phase of (5-year) economic development programs for industrialization. I was happy with good working conditions and flexible schedules. After two years, I had not been fully satisfied with the job due to skewed salary systems between two groups, doctorate degree holders (higher salary) and non-holders, for the same kind and amount of works. NOT fair to me!! My ambition aroused me again to face a new (Big) challenge. Why not me for the degree if others had made it? Thus, I had made up my mind to study abroad for the Ph.D. degree.
In Aug. 1981, I came to Penn State University (PA, USA) to study for the degree in Finance. I thought it would be a good investment to sacrifice five years of my life for a higher degree. I had a BIG dream to be a world-renowned scholar and/or manager. As expected, the journey was not easy due to many huddles but no way to retreat. Among others, English (speaking, writing, teaching) was one of big barriers while studying for the program.
In Aug. 1986, I successfully finished the program and obtained a Ph.D. degree in Finance. There were two choices for my careers, academic field or business world (e.g., Wall Street, corporations). After serious discussions, I chose the academic side (teaching, research). I thought it is a better fit for me with more flexibility and many opportunities for self-developments. In 1986, I became a Finance professor to teach various (basic, advanced, global, and MBA) Finance courses at S University (one of 14 PA State Universities). Looking back over the 34-year teaching, I had been very much satisfied with this career (dream job). Many of my students have been working in big US corporations (e.g., Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Vanguard, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, …). To present my academic/practical research papers, I had attended many conferences and also traveled around the world for exciting experiences and memories. During my sabbatical leaves, I could enough time for research and for teaching Finance courses at several universities in Malaysia (UMS, Kota Kinabalu; Fulbright Scholar), Thailand (Bangkok Univ.), and Korea (K University, KyungNam). I also could find a great time to meet with many foreign scholars and to visit many universities. During my tenure at S Univ., I loved teaching an applied course, Investment Management Program. In this course, each student is a portfolio manager, specializing in one to 3 stocks and industries. The class as a whole makes all the (buy, sell) decisions based on their research reports while managing a portfolio (close to $300,000) since 1995. Its profits have been used as scholarships for Finance students ($4,000 each year). Every year in March, they attend the Q-GAME Forum to compete with other students around the world in the real portfolio management game (New York). My students had won the first prize several times in a few categories (out of 7 categories; value fund, growth fund or any mix). After 34-year successful teaching career, I retired in Aug. 2020 to enjoy my life. As a hobby, I like reading, hiking, playing (golf, guitar, pickleball, table tennis), and traveling around the world. In this area (PA), I have been working as a volunteer (tax help, consulting…).
In sum, I ask young alumni not to be afraid of facing any new challenges. With strong background in Math at KU, you are well prepared to be successful in any career. In an effort to help you to be good managers, I want to introduce two books, “Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? (Richard Maybury; for personal reading)” and “(New) One-Minute Manager (NOMM; Blanchard and Johnson).” NOMM would be a good starting point in developing good management skills because everyone will be promoted to higher-level managers regardless of major fields in the future. This book was one of required readings in my Finance courses. This book had been briefly discussed at a meeting with Math students when vising KU campus in June 2023. Many of my students had been asked to read this book at the entry level job(s) to be qualified for promotions.
To be an effective manager or team leader, this book emphasizes three themes: One -Minute (OM) Goal Setting, OM Praising, and OM Redirect (or Reprimand (old version)). Everyone (NOMM) should be able to write his/her (personal, project) goal(s) in one paragraph so that other people or team members should be able to read and understand it in one minute (be concise). If some members had successfully finished a project in time, praise them or even yourself (by tapping shoulders) for the job well done in one minute. Too much praising would make them very proud and arrogant. This may hurt morale and overall productivity of the organization. If any member(s) had failed to finish any projects, NOMM needs to point out in person why it failed and redirect the process with constructive suggestions in one minute. In other times, NOMM needs to reprimand the person in charge for the failure in one minute (no discouragement). NOMM needs to treat everyone equally as a valuable asset for the team to obtain its goal(s) together.
This concept can be easily applied to everyone at personal levels. What will you do if you have only one minute to live? How about one hour, one day, one month, or one year? Let’s recall the desperate answer by an American soldier when fully surrounded by enemies during Korean War to a war correspondent: “I can do anything if ONE more day, MY tomorrow, is guaranteed.” Are we sure of our TOMORROW, one more day?
I visited KU Campus in June 2023, first time in 50 years after my graduation (1973). I had been very impressed by many modernized buildings, equipped with high techs. I found that these excellent buildings had been donated by major Korean corporations. I give my deep appreciation to them for their valuable contributions, which enabled KU to be more competitive around the globe. More students can be better educated to be good managers to lead Korean firms to be the world-class companies in the future. To this end, I made small scholarship fund for Math students to be value-creating citizens, not value destroyers. Let’s move on as we are in the first quadrant: Live in such a way to increase (or maximize) the value of our society (Y-axis) for all citizens by using all our valuable resources (X-axis: time, energy, and efforts). History can be made for the future generations to come.
Appendix: Memorable Moments at Korea University ( 아래 글에서 P.1, P2, 등은 밑에 있는 pdf 파일의 쪽수입니다. — 편집자 주)
Two pictures (P.1) were taken at a graduation celebrating dinner (Nov. 1971). Featured are two Math professors [한 필하 교수 (Han), 유 희세 교수 (Yoo) (speaking)], and Hong Rim (학회장 임 홍근; Math Student Ass. Chair). Prof. Han created Math Dept. through his endless efforts. I have remembered him as one of the best teachers and mentors. I learned how to effectively teach Math with the following examples: A good introduction, emphasis of main points, stand half-way facing students while speaking and writing on blackboard (old days), looking straight at students for any Q&A, and a short conclusion with summaries. He had been very strict in exams and grading (no jokes). I followed his styles during my 34-year teaching careers of Finance courses (not Math) in the USA. Prof. Yoo has been remembered as one of the kindest teachers with a little flexibility. In his classes, we had been very busy in writing a lot (no slides).
The first picture (P.2) shows our celebration on the first-place trophy in the basketball game (1971 freshmen). Featured are two professors [장 태환 교수(Jang) (Dept. Chair), 사공 정숙 교수 (SahGong)], Hong Rim, and other freshmen reps (need to be identified). Prof. Jang has been remembered as one of the most open-minded teachers. As a class rep, I visited his (Dept.) office very often to discuss various issues (e.g., student activities (sports, picnics), demonstrations, or class cancellations). Prof. SahGong has been remembered as one of the most principle-oriented teachers with strict classroom policy (no cancellation). The second picture (P.2) show most of my classmates at the sport event. Pictures in P. 3 show many classmates, participating in various sport events during the freshmen year (1968). We won the first prize in a (5-men-2-leg; 5인 2각) game (Hong Rim (임 홍근; center) with other classmates). Noh JooIk (노 주익) is featured as the commander of GihMahJun (기마전; cavalry battle) with other classmates (good fights). Pictures in P. 4 show many classmates in various sport events and picnics. Pictures in P.5 show a group of classmates, participating in a hiking contest [WooEee Dong to SaeGum Jung (우이동 세검정(약 8km)); Dec. 1969). More than 50 years have passed since my graduation, but some of us have been well connected through various SNS platform. Most recently (May 2023), some of these friends met to share valuable memories of good old days. Physically, we have been getting older, but mentally our memories remain strong and clear. When visiting KU campus in June 2023, I had been much disappointed because there is no place or building for my memories or nostalgia. The building in which we used to study had been demolished to be parking places. It is also sad that most of my professors (including Prof. Kwon and Park) passed away but Prof. SahGong. My best wish for her to stay healthy along with her family.