Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee of our department was elected to the US National Academy of Inventors (NAI). He becomes the first scholar from a Korean institute named as a NAI fellow. The accolade echoes the societal and economic impact of Professor Lee's research, as the news comes one year following his election to the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in 2017, making him the first Korean named to both the US National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and NAS.

NAI is a non-profit member organization comprising U.S. and international universities, and governmental and non-profit research institutes, with over 4,000 members and fellows, representing more than 250 prestigious research institutions worldwide. Currently, NAI has 912 fellows, and collectively they hold more than 32,000 US patents issued, which amount to over $137 billion in revenue.

According to the NAI, Professor Lee was recognized for fellowship induction based on his demonstration of highly prolific spirit of innovation in the field of microbiology and metabolic engineering, the fields in which Professor Lee has become a world-leading expert since he joined KAIST in 1994. Distinguished Professor Lee, a pioneering researcher and scholar in the field of systems metabolic engineering, was ranked in the top 1% of highly cited researchers (HCR) this year. Despite the notion that publications in the area of biological and biomolecular engineering receive relatively fewer citations, Professor Lee boasts over 34,000 citations, reaffirming his influence and impact to the scientific field and society.

Professor Lee is currently the dean of KAIST Institutes, the world-leading institute for multi and interdisciplinary research. He is also serving as co-chair of the Global Council on Biotechnology, and is a member of the Global Future Council on the Fourth Industrial Revolution at the World Economic Forum.