Foreign students who graduated from Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST, President   Young Joon Kim) established a local alumni association to mark the 20^th anniversary of the foundation of the institute.

   GIST announced April 11^th with Prof. Kim, Kyoung Woong, Dean of the Office of International and Public Affairs and more than 20 Vietnamese graduates with GIST Masters’ and Doctors’ degree attending, that they celebrated “inception of GIST Alumni Association” for the graduates based in Vietnam.

   The Vietnamese graduates who launched the first foreign alumni association of GIST are the talents in the fields of math and engineering who studied at GIST on a scholarship from Vietnam government under the joint program between GIST and Hanoi University of Science.     

   After graduation, most of the students went back to the nation to serve as senior public officials in government agencies or to be actively engaged in research · education institutions such as Environment Technology Research Institute or Hanoi University of Science.

   Prof. Kim, Kyoung Woong said, “The establishment of foreign alumni association is expected to contribute to promoting academic achievements of GIST and to attracting talented students and also to strengthening network with local government agencies, education & research institutions of the host nation.” He also added “The Vietnamese Alumni Association is the first step for gradual expansion of the associations for foreign graduates in many nations.”      

   Since 1998 when GIST first awarded its degree for foreign students, 253 foreign students from 28 nations across the world graduated from the institute until last February.