Media Contact: Dr. Myung-Hwan Whangbo, 919/515-3464 or mike_whangbo@ncsu.edu

May 6, 1999

NC State University Chemist Wins 1999 Ho-Am Prize

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Dr. Myung-Hwan "Mike" Whangbo of Raleigh, professor of chemistry at North Carolina State University, has won the 1999 Ho-Am Prize for Basic Science. The award, which is regarded as Korea’s equivalent of the Nobel, carries a $110,000 cash award and is among the world’s most prestigious international science prizes.

Whangbo won the prize for his fundamental contributions to the fields of solid state chemistry and physics. His research has yielded new and better tools for understanding and analyzing the physical properties of solid state materials. Among other advancements for which he is responsible, Whangbo created the first practical computer program for calculating the electronic structure of complex solid state materials, and he established a conceptual framework for analyzing electronic structures in terms of molecular chemistry.

The Ho-Am Prize was established in 1990 by Kun-Hee Lee, chairman of the Samsung Group, in honor of his late father, Byung-Chull Lee, Samsung’s founder. Each year, Ho-Am Prizes are awarded in five categories: basic science; engineering; medical science; the arts; and social service. Whangbo and this year’s other winners will receive their prizes June 1 at a ceremony in Seoul.

Whangbo joined the NC State faculty in 1978. Before coming to NC State, he was a postdoctoral associate at Cornell University and a postdoctoral fellow at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Seoul National University in 1968 and 1970, and his doctorate from Queen’s University in 1974.

Among honors he previously has won for his scientific accomplishments are a 1994 Alexander von Humboldt Research Award for Senior U.S. Scientists, a 1988 NC State Alumni Association Outstanding Research Award, and a Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award from1980 to 85. He has published more than 340 peer-reviewed papers; has developed many computer programs for advanced research in materials and theoretical chemistry; and is a member of the American Chemical Society and Sigma Xi science honor society.

Whangbo and his wife, Jin-Ok, have been married for 28 years and have two children. Their daughter Jennifer is a doctoral candidate in biochemistry at the University of California at San Francisco. Their son Albert is a senior in civil engineering at NC State.

--lucas--

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