Kook-Hyun Chung (Samsung)

2007 Special Award Winner

Mr. KookHyun Chung, senior vice president of Samsung’s Corporate Design Center, founded Samsung Electronics’ Design Membership Program in the early 1990s to close the gap between the Korean design sector and more advanced communities elsewhere. The non-profit program created a tuition-free learning environment where outstanding students from schools worldwide could meet, work on shared projects, share ideas, benefit from professional mentorship and establish a multi-cultural design community. This remarkable facility remains open 24 hours a day, 365 days each year, and houses not only state-of-the-art design equipment, but also a comfortable environment including a kitchen, shower rooms and bedrooms to allow students a fully immersive experience.

By partnering with both design educators and corporations, the Design Membership program has enhanced academic programs in Korea and beyond while bolstering the relationships between designers and the industrial sector. To date, the program has graduated roughly 350 members from 40 different schools. Many of these graduates have become award-winning designers at renowned companies throughout the world.