This lecture series honors the professional and personal legacy of Mr. Myung Sup Lim, founder of Optrontec, Korea’s foremost producer of optical components. Much as Optrontec endeavors to bring the world into focus with its pioneering optical technologies, this lecture series aims to bring the history and culture of Korea into focus. It has been generously funded by Mr. Myung Sup Lim’s son, Mr. Jee-Youn Lim, who has succeeded his father as CEO of Optrontec. This generous gift will enable CAPS to sponsor lectures by some of the world’s foremost authorities on Korea and will also bring attention to UO’s burgeoning concentration in Korean Studies.
Mr. Myung Sup Lim was a self-made man who believed in the power of education to transform lives. The drive and intelligence that propelled him through his own educational career, and into a position with Samsung Heavy Industries, brought him immediate success. Posted to London early in his career, where he studied international finance, he was named a company director within ten years of joining Samsung. But Mr. Lim had a professional vision of his own that led to the creation of one of the world’s leading optical component companies, Optrontec, in 1989.
Mr. Lim was a family man who, not surprisingly, married a teacher. Together, they raised two children, whose own success attests to the values they instilled. Mr. Myung Sup Lim died (too) young—before he could fulfill his retirement dream of traveling the world with his wife—but he left behind a professional and personal legacy that lives on in this international lecture series.
We owe gratitude to Mr. Jee-Youn Lim for his generosity and to Mr. Myung Sup Lim for the exemplary life that inspired it.
Funding Options:
Faculty may apply for one of two types of funding support:
- Full Event Funding:
CAPS will organize the event as the primary funder - Co-Sponsorship:
Awards typically range from $200 to $400. While event planning and logistical support are not included, poster design assistance can be provided upon request.
Application Deadlines:
Speakers in winter/spring: October 30th
Speakers in summer/fall: April 15th
Myung Sup Lim Committee:
Dong Hoon Kim, Cinema Studies
Gyoung-Ah Lee, Anthropology
Susanna Lim, Russian and East European Studies
Jina Kim, East Asian Languages and Literatures