The Pony Chung Foundation has selected badminton national team member An Se-young and Kim Do-hyung, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, as recipients of the 7th Pony Chung Young Leader Award.
On October 7, the Pony Chung Foundation announced that An Se-young and Kim Do-hyung would receive the award. The ceremony is scheduled for November 25 at the Pony Chung Hall in the I-Park Tower in Samsung-dong, Seoul.
An Se-young has been a national representative since her teens, achieving significant success in international competitions. She became the youngest winner at the 2019 French Open and has since won a gold medal at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, the World Championships, and is aiming for gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics. This year, she also triumphed at the World Championships and the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, completing a women's singles Grand Slam at the Asian Badminton Championships in April.
The Pony Chung Foundation cited An's international achievements and her willingness to express her views on domestic sports practices as reasons for her selection. Chairman Chung Mong-kyu praised her, stating, "She has overcome continuous challenges and injuries to reach the pinnacle of her sport, exemplifying the Pony Chung spirit of challenge and innovation as a female leader."
Professor Kim Do-hyung conducts research on catalysts in energy conversion and chemical manufacturing, based on his work in nanochemistry and interfacial studies. After graduating from Seoul National University in 2012, he earned his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2018. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University and has been an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania since 2022.
Kim's research focuses on analyzing atomic-level reactions occurring on solid catalyst surfaces to enhance the efficiency of energy conversion and chemical manufacturing processes. He has published his findings in prestigious journals such as Nature and Science, and in October of last year, he was selected for the Packard Science and Engineering Fellowship, a research support program in the U.S.
Chairman Chung described Kim as a "next-generation scientist creating new principles for sustainable energy and chemical processes through research deciphering the nanometer-scale interfaces where catalysts and liquids meet."
The Pony Chung Young Leader Award was established in 2020 to discover and support young innovators, inheriting the spirit of challenge and innovation of the late Chung Se-young, founder of Hyundai Motor Company. Each year, the award recognizes two individuals under 40 who have made positive contributions to society. Each recipient receives a cash prize of 50 million won and a plaque. Last year, Major Jeong Da-jeong of the Air Force and Kim Byeong-hoon, CEO of APR, were honored as recipients of the 6th Pony Chung Young Leader Award.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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