Message from the president_110718
Message from the president
Dear KWiSE members,
It is my great privilege to serve as the 7th President of KWiSE. I would like to first thank our previous president, Dr. Hee-Yong Kim (NIAAA, NIH) for her dedication and vision as she led this organization for the last 2 years. I would like to continue on our excellent mission, and hope to bring KWiSE members closer to each other. I am happy to share with you the enthusiasm of our new administration, and grateful to all who have stepped up to serve this wonderful organization!
I am fortunate to have Dr. Suejung Huh (Ohhh!, Inc.) serving as the General Secretary and Dr. Hee-Jung Song (Univ Maryland College Park) acting as the Treasurer. In addition, we have a team of excellent Chapter presidents to lead regional chapter based activities, which have been so critical in serving our members. In alphabetical order, Great DC chapter will be led by Dr. Younsung Kim (George Mason Univ), LA chapter by Dr. Jayoung Kim (Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, UCLA), NIH chapter by Dr. Dong-Yun Kim (NHLBI, NIH), NJ/NY chapter by Dr. HeaYeon Lee (Mara Nanotech NY Inc.), SD chapter by Dr. Heekyung Chung (Samumed), Southeastern chapter by Dr. Mihyeon Jeon (WSP USA), and Texas chapter by Dr. Seung-Hee Yoo (UT Health Sci Ctr at Houston).
We will continue our efforts to invigorate various chapter activities to enhance networking and mentoring of our members, and we will partner with various organizations to promote the excellence of Korean-American women in science and engineering fields. We have a new KWiSE web page (www.kwise.org) that was developed during the 6th Administration, which I plan to vitalize to allow efficient communication of our activities. In addition, we have a new LinkedIn Group that can act as a networking and mentoring outlet as well as a venue for informal interactions between members. Some of our chapters are on Facebook and other social media outlets as well. I encourage all of you to reach out and make meaningful connections with each other. Together, we can build a stronger community!
Recently, I had a great opportunity to attend the 2018 GNet Forum organized by the Korea Foundation of Women’s Science & Technology Associations (KOFWST), which was held in Seoul, Korea on October 30, 2018. The main topic of the forum was “How to break the glass ceiling in STEM.” Based on the presentations and discussions, I realized that there is a lot of work ahead for us to gain fair recognition of our excellence. Some of the potential solutions to the “glass ceiling” problem are things that we, as women in STEM, can work on to bring about change. One such is mentoring of our younger generation to allow them to effectively navigate through any bias set against us. I believe KWiSE can make a difference, and we as a group will work to promote and mentor each other to turn the tide to a desirable direction.
I look forward to serving everyone and hope you will continue to support our mission and actively participate in our activities.
Sincerely Yours,
Hey-Kyoung Lee
KWiSE President
