Aekyung Chairwoman Chang Young-shin and four others will receive honorary doctoral degrees from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology on Friday.

The university said Tuesday it would confer honorary Ph.D.s to Chang, President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Shirley Ann Jackson, President of Handong University Kim Young-gil, and philanthropists Oh Yi-won and Cho Chun-shik.

Jackson will receive an honorary degree in science and technology, while the other four will receive theirs in business management.

Chang, who sits on the board of KAIST, served as vice chairwoman of the Federation of Korean Industries and vice chairwoman of the Korea International Trade Association.

Jackson holds a Ph.D. in physics from MIT. In April 2009, she was appointed by U.S. President Barack Obama to serve on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

Kim Young-gil worked at NASA before returning to Korea in 1979 to join the KAIST faculty as materials engineering professor. He took office as Handong president in 1995. Oh donated 10 billion won ($9,000) in cash to KAIST last year. Cho also donated about 10 billion won in property to the university.

(swchun@heraldcorp.com)