Long before Parasite and Squid Game captured America’s cultural consciousness, Emeritus Trustee James Joo-Jin Kim, W’59, G’61, Gr’63, was creating connections between Philadelphia and Korea.
Expansive Impact
James Kim and family extend a legacy of support with a multifaceted new gift
Spring/Summer 2022
In 1968, he founded the sales office of his family’s Korea-based semiconductor manufacturing company in Philadelphia. In 2011, he endowed the James Joo-Jin Kim Program for Korean Studies at Penn Arts & Sciences. Now, he, his wife Agnes, and the James and Agnes Kim Family Foundation have made a $25 million gift to elevate the program into an academic center, in addition to creating a new program for neurovascular surgery at the Perelman School of Medicine and supporting immersive global experiences for graduate students.
As a young immigrant arriving to the United States from Korea, the University provided me with a world-class education while instilling in me an unwavering work ethic. The knowledge and character I gained at Penn helped to pave the road to my success, and I hope this gift helps to pave that road for others.”James Joo-Jin Kim, W’59, G’61, Gr’63
Emeritus Trustee
The James Joo-Jin Kim Center for Korean Studies at Penn Arts & Sciences will be an academic engine with long-term support for scholarly and community-focused activities. The gift will expand the Center’s existing physical space, endow a professorship, launch a global conference, create fellowship opportunities, and sponsor a global forum.
The Kim Family Neurovascular Surgery Program at Penn Medicine will create a new endowed professorship and a neurovascular innovation lab, as well as establish a comprehensive platform for the development of new technologies for treating neurovascular disorders, from initial design to translation into patient care.
The Kim Korean Studies Fund at the Lauder Institute will support students who wish to take part in three distinctive immersion programs: the Korean Language and Culture Track, the East Asia Regional Immersion, and the Global Knowledge Lab.
Support for the Wharton Dean’s Discretionary Fund will provide crucial resources for enhancing academic and co-curricular programming and responding to emerging needs or opportunities.
Hear from Yoonbin Cho, Gr’23, a Graduate Fellow in the Kim Program, in this 2-minute video.
