Ewha Holds 140th Anniversary Ceremony
- 작성처
- Date2026.06.04
- 3154
Ewha Womans University held a commemorative ceremony to celebrate the 140th anniversary of its founding on Friday, May 29, at the Welch-Ryang Auditorium. The event was attended by some 2,000 guests, including Eun Mee Kim, Chairperson of Ewha Womans University’s Board of Trustees, and Ewha President Hyang-Sook Lee, as well as former Ewha presidents, alumnae, distinguished figures from home and abroad, faculty and staff, and current students.
In her commemorative speech, President Lee characterized Ewha’s 140-year history as embodying the three miracles of “a pioneering spirit,” “progress and achievement,” and “scientific and technological innovation.” On this landmark anniversary, she proposed “the human-centered AI transformation” as a fourth miracle and presented Ewha’s vision for a future centered on human dignity and the values of community. She also expressed her aspiration for the university to become a global platform for women’s intellectual leadership and partnership with the world’s leading scholars in tackling humanity’s shared challenges.
In a commemorative speech, Professor Emeritus Jeon Hyo Sook of Ewha Law School, who served as the first female justice of the Constitutional Court of Korea, expressed her hopes for the university’s future development, while relating that the Ewha spirit had formed the foundation of her life and public service. This was followed by the screening of congratulatory video messages from distinguished figures both in Korea and abroad, including an AI-produced video of Mary F. Scranton (1832–1909), the founder of Ewha.
During the event, an award ceremony was held to honor 109 long-serving faculty and staff and to present the Pride of Ewha Award and the Ewha Academic Award. The Pride of Ewha Award was presented to Kim Jung-ok, Chairperson of the Kim Hee-Kyung Scholarship Foundation for European Humanities; Sung-kyung Park, former Vice Chairperson of the E-Land Group; Jane Oh, Chief Systems Engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory; and Yeong-ran Kim, a missionary in Indonesia. Subsequently, this year’s Ewha Academic Award was conferred on Professor Byung Joon Jung of the Department of History and Professor Sang-hyuk Lee of the Department of Life Sciences. The ceremony concluded with a performance by the Ewha Orchestra, a screening of a commemorative video, and the singing of the alma mater.
After the ceremony, President Lee hosted a luncheon where Ewha donors and community members reflected on the significance of the anniversary and Ewha’s aspirations for the future. Attendees responded enthusiastically to the key visuals by Ewha alumna Daria Song that appeared on stage and a photo session with Ewha ambassador Lee Hyunyi.