The University of Pennsylvania has announced a $25 million gift from James Joo-Jin Kim, W’59, G’61, Gr’63, PAR’92, Agnes Kim, PAR’92, and the James and Agnes Kim Family Foundation supporting a range of initiatives at Penn. The largest portion of the commitment will create the James Joo-Jin Kim Center for Korean Studies at Penn Arts & Sciences.
Immersive Experiences and Innovative Medicine
A multifaceted gift will elevate Korean studies, neurovascular surgery, and business and language education at Penn
Published: February 22, 2022
The gift also creates the Kim Family Neurovascular Surgery Program at Penn Medicine and the Kim Korean Studies Fund at the Joseph H. Lauder Institute for Management & International Studies, with additional support for the Dean’s Discretionary Fund at the Wharton School.
“It is with great pride that our family gives this gift to the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Medicine,” said James Kim. “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.”
Building on his longstanding support, James Joo-Jin Kim endowed the James Joo-Jin Kim Program in Korean Studies at Penn Arts & Sciences in 2011, putting Penn in the top echelon of universities offering programs in Korean studies. This new commitment will elevate the program into an academic center that will provide long-term support for academic and community-focused activities.
In addition to expanding the Center’s existing physical space on campus, the Kim family’s gift will endow a professorship, launch a global conference on Korea, create fellowship opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students, and sponsor a global forum that will connect Kim Center scholars with Korean alumni and parents.
The inaugural Social Sciences Korea Conference in December 2019 welcomed 30 scholars who study family changes and inequality in Korea and other Asian societies. The annual conference is organized by the Kim Program in Korean Studies and co-sponsored by the Population Studies Center at Penn, and represents the type of programming can be expanded thanks to the elevation of the Kim Program into an academic center. (Photo taken pre-pandemic.)
At the Kim Program Kimbap Workshop, students and the Penn community have fun while learning how to prepare the traditional Korean dish. Cultural exchange on campus is a vital part of how Penn helps students develop as global citizens. Such opportunities will increase thanks to the creation of the James Joo-Jin Kim Center for Korean Studies. (Photo taken pre-pandemic.)
The launch of the Kim Family Neurovascular Surgery Program at Penn Medicine will allow the Department of Neurosurgery to endow a new professorship and establish a comprehensive platform for the development of new technologies for treating neurovascular disorders—including strokes, brain hemorrhages, aneurysms, and cerebral vascular malformations—from initial design to translation into patient care. The program will ultimately improve the lives of patients with these life-altering medical conditions.
The Kim Korean Studies Fund at the Lauder Institute will support a growing number of 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.
Finally, support for the Wharton Dean’s Discretionary Fund will provide crucial resources Dean Erika James can use to explore new opportunities to enhance academic and co-curricular programming and respond to emerging needs or challenges.
