Lee Kwang-geun becomes first Korean to receive AGFD Fellow award from ACS

Lee Kwang-geun becomes first Korean to receive AGFD Fellow award from ACS

Dongguk University Holds 2025 Fall Commencement Ceremony

Degrees Awarded to 1,846 Graduates Across Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral ProgramsA Commencement Ceremony Where Everyone Celebrates—From Graduate Reflections to Alumni CongratulationsSeoul, August 21, 2025 – Dongguk University (President Jae-woong Yun) held the 2025 Fall Commencement Ceremony on Thursday, August 21, at 11:00 a.m. in Namsan Hall. A total of 1,846 degrees were conferred, including 1,008 bachelor’s, 717 master’s, and 121 doctoral degrees. Awards for academic excellence and outstanding contributions were also presented on the occasion.The ceremony was attended by key members of the university and board, including President Jae-woong Yun, Chairman Ven. Don Gwan of the Dongguk University Foundation, Sun-bae Moon, President of the Alumni Association, former Presidents Seok ku Song and Sung-yee Yoon, Foundation Secretary-General Jung Hak Ji, Vice President for Planning Youngsik Jeong, Vice President for Academic Affairs Yonghyun Kim, Vice President for Research Kyu-young Kang, Vice President for BMC Jung suk Sung, and Ven. Je jeong, Abbot of Jeonggakwon the Campus Temple.This year’s commencement consisted of two main sessions and supplementary events. The first session, beginning at 9:30 a.m., was specially arranged for doctoral degree recipients, with President Yun personally presenting diplomas to all doctoral graduates in recognition of their academic achievements.The second session, starting at 11:00 a.m., followed a formal program that included: the opening, Buddhist homage, national ceremony, academic report, presidential address, congratulatory remarks by the Chairman of the Dongguk Foundation, congratulatory speech by the Alumni Association President, honorary doctoral conferment, awards for meritorious service, degree conferral, graduation speech by student representative, alumni address, singing of the university anthem, The Four Great Vows, and closing.In his commencement address, President Yun emphasized the Buddhist teaching of Jari-Ita (benefiting both oneself and others), reminding graduates to “live a life that contributes to the well-being of both yourself and others, applying the knowledge you have gained to society and growing together.” He further encouraged them, saying, “You are already accomplished Dongguk graduates, equipped with both competence and values. From today onward, I hope you will continue to be changemakers in the world under the name of Dongguk University. Always remember, Dongguk will remain a steadfast supporter and a warm place of return for you.”Chairman Don Gwan, in his congratulatory remarks, said, “I sincerely congratulate you on the fruits of your long academic journey. Despite the uncertainties of the times, you have endured with perseverance and achieved meaningful results.” He added, “As Dongguk graduates, I hope you will carry wisdom that discerns complexity, compassion that empathizes with others, and perseverance that never ceases in growth—becoming role models who bring positive impact to society.”Alumni Association President Sun-bae Moon also congratulated the graduates, saying, “Completing rigorous academic training and earning your degree is truly commendable. From this moment, it is time to illuminate the world with your own story.” He pledged the support of 350,000 fellow alumni, adding, “Approach every challenge ahead of you with intuition and courage. We will be cheering you on.”During the ceremony, special awards were presented, followed by a graduation speech delivered by Seul-ki Kim (Department of Social Welfare Counseling) as the student representative. The alumni address was given by Minpyo Song, CEO of Coactus Inc. and founder of the accessible mobility service Silent Taxi, who graduated in Computer Science in 2012.This year’s commencement also featured college-level degree conferral sessions, allowing graduates and their families to celebrate in a more intimate setting. Designated photo zones across campus created opportunities for memorable graduation photos. Reflecting the theme “A Commencement for Everyone Together”, the ceremony emphasized connection between graduates and alumni through shared reflections and celebratory speeches.To further enhance the celebratory atmosphere, Dongguk University organized various side events for graduates. Photo walls, booths, mascot-themed installations, and balloon decorations featuring the university mascot Ako were set up around Seoul Campus, open until August 24. On the day of commencement, the symbolic “Elephant Monument Photo Event” was held at Paljeongdo Square, and graduates enjoyed the interactive program “Find the Walking Ako” for commemorative photo opportunities with the mascot.

Dongguk University Achieves Top ‘S’ Grade for Educational Innovation for Second Consecutive Year

Dongguk University Achieves Top ‘S’ Grade for Educational Innovation for Second Consecutive Year, Secures 8.5 Billion KRW in FundingDongguk University (President Jae-woong Yun) has been awarded the highest 'S' grade for the second consecutive year in the 2025 Performance Evaluation of the University Innovation Support Project, administered by the Ministry of Education and the National Research Foundation of Korea. Through this achievement, the university has secured a total of 8.5 billion KRW, including additional incentives, further demonstrating its leadership in educational innovation.The University Innovation Support Project, participated in by 138 universities nationwide (including 60 in the Seoul metropolitan area), is a flagship government initiative promoting autonomous innovation to elevate educational quality and cultivate creative, interdisciplinary talent. This year’s evaluation focused on ‘Educational Innovation Achievements’ and ‘Self-Assessment Management,’ assessing both past performance and future strategic plans.Dongguk University excelled in ‘Educational Innovation Achievements,’ earning the top S grade thanks to: ▲ Expansion of students’ real choices of academic majors with innovative curricular initiatives ▲Tailored guidance and career exploration systems designed to meet individual student needs ▲Establishment of EduTech-based teaching and learning environments ▲ Creation of a new Academic Demand Response Committee to flexibly address evolving academic interests linked to autonomous major selection.In the ‘Self-Assessment Management’ area, Dongguk was recognized for: ▲ Building an integrated achievement management and feedback system, led by the IR Performance Analysis Team and Evaluation and Audit Office ▲ Advancing IR-based performance analysis and planning development of an AI-powered feedback system.President Jae-woong Yun remarked, “Dongguk University proactively introduced the online DreamPATH system for customized student development management and established dedicated support structures for the self-directed major selection system. Prioritizing the successful social advancement of our students has led to these outstanding results. We will continue striving to nurture convergent talents who create new value from diversity, embracing the era of AI transformation.”

Dongguk University Ranked 8th in the Korea JoongAng Daily’s University Rankings... Its Highest Ranking Ever

Dongguk University (President Yun Jae-woong) ranked 8th, its highest ranking ever, in the 2023 Korea JoongAng Daily’s University Rankings, announced on Monday the 20th, rising one notch from the previous year.Dongguk University made an amazing achievement of taking the highest place, 8th, among Korean universities, by distinguishing itself in the field of professor research, and including such achievements as ranking 10th in faculty research (previously 14th), 5th in student education (previously 4th), 26th in educational conditions (previously 29th), and 11th in reputation (previously 10th).This year, Dongguk University celebrates President Yun Jae-woong’s first year in office and has been reborn as a research-oriented university by implementing the ‘Dongkuk Meta Plan 120’ project. Starting in 2021, it has been included in the top 10 rankings for three consecutive years, and this year it earned 8th place, its highest ranking ever, laying the foundation as one of the top 10 universities in Korea, worthy of its name.The research sector accounts for 32% in the Korea JoongAng Daily’s university rankings, meaning that it is a highly influential indicator. Dongguk University's ranking in the faculty and research category rose four notches, leading to an increase in its overall ranking. Dongguk University ranked ▲7th place in external research funding per professor ▲8th place in citations per paper in international academic journals ▲11th place in papers in international academic journals per professor ▲8th place in low publication volume per professor in the humanities and social sciences and ▲8th place in low publication volume per professor in the humanities and social sciences. Overall, it ranked 10th in the faculty and research sector, making progress in all detailed indicators evenly.In addition, in the student education sector, which is where Dongguk University excels, it maintained a high ranking this year, as it earned in the previous year. The student education sector is an indicator that evaluates the university's efforts to advance into society, such as support for employment or student start-up, performance, and field training. Dongguk University ranked ▲7th in net employment rate ▲4th in domestic student dropout rate ▲3rd in international student dropout rate ▲5th in the dedicated manpower for start-ups per enrolled student and ▲4th in ratio of students participating in field training. It has proven once again that it is an excellent university in terms of both employment and startup support.After hearing the results of the university evaluation, President Yun Jae-woong of Dongguk University said, “The biggest factor that enabled Dongguk University to achieve 8th place, the highest-ever ranking in the Korea JoongAng Daily University Rankings, is that it distinguished itself in research performance based on improving its academic structure as a research-oriented university,” and added, “We plan to continuously improve indicators related to educational conditions, which are ranked somewhat low.” He continued, “Dongguk University’s religious body, foundation, and school are joining their strengths through the recent launch of the founding committee for the second founding of the school. With the members of Dongguk University, we will continue to develop and become a prestigious university in the world,” demonstrating his ambitions.

Dongguk University Baseball Team wins the 78th National CollegiateBaseball Championship

The baseball team from Dongguk University won the 78th National CollegiateBaseball Championship. Dongguk University and Korea University shared thetrophy after the final match of the 78th National Collegiate BaseballChampionship, set for July 11 at Hongcheon Baseball Stadium, was canceled dueto rain. Dongguk University won its first national championship since the 71stNational Collegiate Baseball Championship in 2016.TheDongguk University baseball team, founded in 1946, had its second heyday in 2013 with Lee Geon-yeol as head coach, following Kim In-sik (76), a formernational team coach who managed the team in the early 1980s. After takingover as head coach, he enhanced Dongguk University's reputation, winning ninechampionships before this event.

Inauguration speech of the 20th president, Yun..

Dongguk University chosen as “Best University...

Dongguk University chosen as “Best University” in the field of information and communication according to “University Evaluation from the Industry Perspective”Woong-sup Kim, PD professor at the Department of Information and Communication Engineering, takes a commemorative photo after receiving the honor at the awards ceremony. Department of Information and Communication Engineering rated best for two consecutive years following 2017 evaluation○ Dongguk University (president: Yoon Sung-Yee) announced on the 12th that the university was selected as the best university in the field of information and communication at the “2022 University Evaluation from the Industry Perspective” hosted by the Ministry of Education and the Accreditation Board for Engineering Education of Korea.○ Since 2008, the Ministry of Education and the Accreditation Board for Engineering Education of Korea have been promoting talents with convergence and complex capabilities in the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution. To run a curriculum that meets the needs of the industry, the duo conducts a university evaluation from an industry perspective every year. This year, 26 universities and 42 departments across the country were evaluated in four categories, namely information and communication, civil engineering, artificial intelligence, and smart factory.○ The evaluation committee of “University Evaluation from the Industry Perspective” is made up of industry and university officials with an extensive knowledge of the evaluation field. The committee evaluates three areas using 9 indicators: ▲Industry-based curriculum design ▲Curriculum operation, and ▲ Performance of universities (departments). The indicator this year specifically reflected the university's efforts to activate its own industry-university collaboration model to promote future talent.○ Dongguk University’s Department of Information and Communication Engineering attained the highest rating in the information and communication field. It was awarded a certification plaque in the joint name of the Ministry of Education, five economic organizations, and the Accreditation Board for Engineering Education of Korea. Following an evaluation in 2017, it was selected as the best department in the field of information and communication for two consecutive years.○ The Department of Information and Communication Engineering at Dongguk University is working on the “LINC 3.0 Project Industry-University Collaboration Leading Department” and “Project of Fostering Intellectual Property Convergence Talents in New Industry Field.” A department in the graduate school formed under a contract for “Smart Ocean Mobility” facilitates employment with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering upon graduation, starting from the first semester of 2023. ○ Min-joong Lim, senior professor at the Department of Information and Communication Engineering, said, “Dongguk University establishes and operates education policies that reflect industry demand. The results achieved by this university evaluation from an industry perspective are due to the sincere efforts of the university and faculty, and the university will always promote talent that can contribute to the industry in the future.”

Dongguk University achieves 9th place in Joon...

Dongguk University achieves 9th place in JoongAng Ilbo's college rankings for the second consecutive yearDongguk University (President Yoon Sung-Yee) ranked 9th in the 2022 JoongAng Ilbo college rankings released on the 14thNovember(Mon), the highest ranking achieved in two consecutive years.Dongguk University ranked 9th for the second consecutive year, ranking 4th in the ▲ student education category (previously ranked 5th), ▲ 14th in faculty research (previously 12th), ▲ 10th in social reputation (previously 13th), and 29th in educational environment (previously 26th).The university has been revamped as a research-oriented university through the "Energize Dongguk" project, which commenced in 2019. It ranked 9th for the second consecutive year, following the highest-ever ranking of 9th last year, laying the foundation for the top 10 universities in name and reality.Dongguk University, which ranked the highest in the field of student education among the evaluation criteria, had particularly good results due to its strength in the field of start-up support. The student education category is an indicator of the quantity and quality of employment or entrepreneurship, and the efforts of universities to help students enter society through field training and start-up education.Dongguk University scored 57.010 points out of 80 and ranked fourth, its highest ever. It recorded ▲3rd in the proportion of students participating in field training (previously 5th), ▲5th in the rate of withdrawal (previously 8th), and ▲3rd in the rate of withdrawal by foreign students (previously 6th). Dongguk University announced that it has strengthened the qualitative evaluation of field training this year and actively conducted quality field training. It created an appropriate program through its faculty and alumni network to support field training after investigating the requirements of students and companies. It has been analyzed that the university has received strong points as it satisfies the quantitative and qualitative levels of student start-ups.It also maintained its high ranking in the faculty research category, which comprises the highest portion in the JoongAng Ilbo college rankings. It ranked 14th in the faculty research category, making great strides in humanities research, ranking ▲9th in domestic thesis per humanities and social sciences professor (previously 13th) and ▲13th in humanities and social sciences publications (previously 27th).Dongguk University recently stood out in internal and external evaluations, ranking 10th in terms of social reputation. It ranked ▲11th in the list of colleges where companies would like to recruit its incoming employees from (previously 15th) and ▲ 10th in preferred colleges by student parents (previously 13th).Dongguk University President Yoon Sung-Yee, who heard the results of the college rankings stated that "The most important factor that facilitated Dongguk University achieving 9th place for two consecutive years is that it focused on ‘education’ itself, which is the basis of the university,” and “In order to fulfill its responsibilities as a research institution, the school has now established itself as a research-oriented university through the ‘Energize Dongguk’ project, and through this, it has now established itself as a university with good research results”. She went on to state that “Dongguk University will not be satisfied with the current ranking, but rather achieve the top 5 by working continuously together with all members of the faculty.”

Dongguk University selected as the most excel...

Dongguk University selected as the most excellent project group in the “Campus CEO Project”The Dongguk University (President Yoon Sung-yee) was selected as the most excellent project group in the “Campus CEO Project” for 10 consecutive years. Organized by Seoul Business Agency (SBA), the Campus CEO Project supports practical start-up education courses aimed at “cultivating entrepreneurship that enables discovering and solving problems on their own” for students of Seoul-based universities with excellent start-up education records. Based on the practical start-up curriculum that can strengthen entrepreneurial capabilities, the goal of the project is to discover innovative ideas to solve social issues through mission projects with external organizations and companies, while nurturing talents with capabilities for creative convergence. Dongguk University has produced prominent campus CEOs over the past decade under the banner of “fostering social ventures based on social values” since joining the early stage of the project in 2012. Coactus (CEO Song Min-pyo), a social venture that attracted attention with the “Goyohan Taxi” the taxi service driven by hearing-impaired drivers, is a representative case of a campus CEO nurtured by Dongguk University. Song, who had been considering a business model under the proposition of social values and responsibilities since college, turned his idea into reality and proceeded with the business process with the support of the Campus CEO project. Since then, the company has been growing into a leading social venture start-up in Korea by participating in a start-up club and receiving support from the university for start-up activity space and commercialization funds. In addition, Dr. Diary (CEO Song Jae-yoon), a start-up offering a personalized healthcare management platform for people with diabetes, was created through the Start-up Capstone Design, a Campus CEO support course. With the support of the university, the company launched the “Doctor Diary Service” in 2017, an app that offers a customized lifestyle for diabetic patients. Currently, it has grown into a healthcare platform with five million diabetic members in Korea by expanding its business field to an online shopping mall, “Dakdamol” and the healthy diet service, “Muhwadang” for diabetics.Meanwhile, Dongguk University also achieved excellent results in the Capstone Awards, a joint competition held among universities organizing the Campus CEO project. It swept both the grand prize and the best prizes at the “3rd Capstone Awards” early this year. The grand prize was awarded to the Nurling team (CEO Ko Myung-gi), who also won the best prize for excellent online content. The company was praised for presenting technological perfection through the development and demonstration of an automatic recording healthcare service based on awareness of health and hygiene issues after the pandemic. The best prize was awarded to the 5K team (CEO Song Min-seok), which developed a capture service using braille OTP for the visually impaired. At the “4th Capstone Awards” held in June, CoodMood (CEO Yeom Gyu-ri) and RUBATO (CEO Kim Jeong-woon) won special awards. CoodMood received high scores for developing and launching attachment dolls that help infants sleep separately from their parents. RUBATO, which is working on a deep learning-based platform service that supports artists’ collaboration activities, received favorable responses for presenting solutions to social problems. In addition, professor Sung Chang-soo (Director of Dongguk University Start-up Education Center), who is in charge of the project which was selected as the most excellent project group, was awarded the Achievement Award for his contribution to the Campus CEO project for the past 10 years. Through the project and over the past three years, Dongguk University has achieved meaningful results such as educating a total of 1,461 project graduates, creating 90 jobs, coming up with 380 innovative ideas, developing 130 online educational content items, and receiving awards at 70 off-campus start-up competitions. Based on these efforts, Dongguk University will provide tailored start-up education programs to students who are interested in starting a business, and continuously nurture campus CEOs through various follow-up support by collaborating with the LINC3.0 project of the Ministry of Education, the Campus Town project of Seoul City, and the preliminary start-up package project of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

Dongguk University hosts “108 Bows Donation Relay” campaign All ...

Dongguk University hosts “108 Bows Donation Relay” campaignAll funds raised will be used for scholarships for enrolled students for the embodiment of our founding philosophy. (From the right side of the front row) Dongguk University staff including president Sung Yee Yoon have attended the inaugural ceremony of the 108 bows donation relay campaign and are practicing the bows.Dongguk University (president Sung Yee Yoon) hosts the “108 Bows Donation Relay” campaign to build a 100-year framework for the second founding alongside the establishment of the founding committee of the educational foundation (commissioner Monk Don Gwan).At 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday the 30th, the Dongguk University Division of External Relations (director Ae Joo Kim) hosted the inaugural ceremony of the “108 Bows Donation Relay Campaign.” The Relay is a campaign to build peace in the body and mind with the 108 bows, fulfill the practice of giving, and create new connections by asking for donations. The funds raised by the campaign will be used for scholarships for enrolled students for the embodiment of our founding philosophy.The first participant, president Sung Yee Yoon donated 20 million won. He then asked six people including the president of the professor council, the president of the student body, staff members, monks, alumni, and Buddhist followers to donate. From that point, the relay continues by each participant making three designations.The designated participant can practice the 108 bows in a comfortable location, complete the donations, and ask three other people to participate. The amount of donations can be chosen freely with the minimum being 10,800 won. The donations can be easily made via mobile phone or the homepage.President Sung Yee Yoon said, “this will be a historical campaign of professors, staff, students, monks, and Buddhists sharing and gathering minds, creating new relationships, and wishing for a higher leap of Dongguk University.” He then quoted, “We will continue together until the last participant completes the run. We wish active participation from many people.”The campaign will continue for a total of 20 weeks until Sunday, May 8th, 2022. All processes of the campaign will be shown on the homepage.On the other hand, Monk Wonhaeng, the chief executive of the Korean Buddhist Jogye order met president Sung Yee Yoon earlier that day and delivered a gift of money wishing for a successful opening.