Chung-Ang University (CAU; ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea. The university operates two campuses: its main Seoul city campus located in the Dongjak District; and a second campus in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province. Overall, CAU consists of 16 undergraduate colleges and 16 graduate schools.
Founded as a church-run kindergarten in 1916 it transformed into a school for female kindergarten teachers in 1922. CAU was granted university status in 1953 and held its centennial anniversary in 2018. It has more than 33,600 undergraduate students, 5,200 graduate students, 700 professors, and 500 part-time teaching staff. The symbol of the university is a blue dragon.
History
Establishment Chung-Ang University began with the establishment of the Chung-Ang Kindergarten as an annex to the Chung-Ang Methodist Church, located in Insa-dong, Seoul. The kindergarten was originally founded in 1916 as a branch of the Jungdong Church, but was separated in April 1918.
The Chung-Ang Kindergarten established a teacher training program and thus took on the role of a professional educational institution, posting graduates to cities across Korea, including Hamhung, Hweryung, Busan, Masan, and Jeonju among others. In 1922, in partnership with the Community Education Movement of Japanese resistance organisations, the institution was promoted to a kindergarten teacher training school, although its official legal status remained as a miscellaneous school.
Adversities The institute faced continual financial and personal obstacles, and with just ten students in 1932 it was forced to relocate to a private residence. In 1933 Louise Yim took over the institute's leadership and was appointed as the principal. Her savings of US$30,000 earned from farming, truck driving, and vegetable wholesale operations in the US were used to purchase a site at Heukseok-dong, where a school was built.
Chung-Ang grew significantly under Yim. But despite its relocation to Heukseok-dong the teacher training school still lacked facilities, leading Yim to rent the Pearson Bible School to host classes. However, with Yim's personal financial troubles and the Japanese prohibiting contributions the development of the school continued to face financial difficulties. Believing that the only solution was to raise funds from the United States Yim went there, seeking donations. The result was that she when she returned home to Korea she was able to support the school financially.
The school's first stone building on the grounds was started in April 1937 and became the Young-Shin Hall upon its completion in May 1938. Students subsequently founded the Chosun Kindergarten Education Society and hosted concerts, plays, and literary activities. During World War II Chung-Ang was heavily targeted by the Japanese because Yim was educated in the United States and was a Christian. Under pressure from Japanese forces towards the end of the war the school was no longer able to admit new students and it was subsequently closed in 1944.
Official recognition Following the defeat of Japan and the liberation of Korea, Yim reopened Chung-Ang on 28 September 1945. In October of the same year the Chung-Ang Teacher Training School was re-organised under the name of the Chung-Ang Professional School for Women. In April 1947 the school was again reorganised into the Chung-Ang College for Women and then in May 1948 to the Chung-Ang College, establishing itself as a co-educational institution. Yim continued her efforts in developing the college while serving as a Korean diplomat in the United Nations, and was appointed dean and chairman of the board.
Though the college celebrated its first conferment of a bachelor's degree in May 1950 it was again closed indefinitely due to the outbreak of the Korean War. The school's management and students fled to Busan where a temporary office was established and the Chung-Ang College continued operating for the duration of the war. The college was granted official university status in February 1953 and Yim was appointed as first chancellor of the university.
Following the declaration of a ceasefire in July 1953 the university's management and teaching faculty returned to the original site in Heukseok-dong, Seoul. However, the site was occupied by the U.S. Army and so lectures had to be taught in temporary buildings until the site was eventually recovered in April 1954.
Expansion The university continued to expand and by 1959 it encompassed 19 educational departments under four faculties with a student population of over 2,000. The university also established the International Culture Research Institute in an effort to enhance research activities. In 1960 CAU students protested against the March 1960 South Korean presidential election, and on 2 October 1961 Sung-Hee Yim was appointed as CAU's second chancellor. He was later re-elected as the third chancellor.
The university, together with its subsidiaries and affiliated schools, underwent a significant reorganisation in 1965 in an effort to develop a unified kindergarten-to-graduation education under the CAU name. In 1968 the university was reorganised once again, this time into eight component faculties, and celebrated its 50th anniversary the same year. Chull Soon Yim became the university's fourth chancellor.
Louise Yim died on 17 February 1977.
Another expansion in March 1980 saw lecture halls, dormitories, and a students' union built in Anseong, thereby establishing the Anseong campus.
Chull Soon Yim ended his term as the fourth chancellor in May 1980 and was succeeded by the professor of philosophy, Suk-Hee Lee, who became the fifth chancellor. During his tenure Lee oversaw significant improvements and modernisations of both the Seoul and Anseong campuses.
Recent history Bum Hoon Park was inaugurated as the 12th university president in February 2005. His first major responsibility was overseeing the evaluation conducted by the Korean Council for University Education, as well as initiatives involving capital marketing, the BK21 project, the establishment of the Professional Graduate School of Law, and other national programs.
Following the restructuring of undergraduate programs the university conducted a comprehensive review of new student admissions, current student registration, financial status, and overall management of its three professional schools and eleven specialised schools, seeking to identify areas for improvement and enhance the quality of education. Consequently, 32 of the 42 faculty members in the professional and specialised schools were reassigned to the general graduate school and 10 positions were eliminated, with the reassigned faculty members forming the core of a newly established Research Priority Group.
The development plan known as DRAGON 2018 (for 2001–2004) initiated under the 11th president to guide the university toward its centennial vision was rebranded as CAU2018+ (for 2005–2008). The new plan was executed in two phases to achieve its strategic goals, and included detailed valuation indices for various sectors and outlined projected revenue sources. Between 2005 and 2009 the university secured KRW 40 billion in development funds, KRW 166.3 billion in external research grants, and KRW 17.3 billion in government funding. The total of KRW 223.6 billion represented the largest amount of financial support in the university's history.
During the first four years of Park's presidency significant investments were made in educational and research infrastructure. In February 2007 the nation's largest Law Hall was completed, and a master plan was developed for constructing Pharmacy and Natural Sciences R&D Centers near the main entrance of Campus 1, plus an Engineering R&D Center adjacent to the gymnasium.
In November 2007 the university obtained approval for the development of a tertiary campus in Hanam on the site of the former Camp Colbern, a U.S. Army installation. With an area of 86,000 pyeong the site was redeveloped for academic use, with dedicated teams organised by subject area. 244 full-time teaching staff were recruited between 2005 and 2009, and 25 full-time and part-time staff in the first semester of 2009. The Law and Medical Schools were established there in March 2009.
In May 2008 the global corporation Doosan Group became the university's educational foundation and Yong-Sung Park was elected as the ninth chairman of the board. Chairman Park had led Doosan's transition from consumer goods to heavy industry and symbolised a new era for the university. On August 27, 2008 he met with faculty to present the CAU2018+ Mid-Term Development Plans and a new strategic direction, summarised as "Choice and Concentration, Strengthening Executive Capability, and Establishing a Virtuous Cycle Structure." The direct election system for the university presidency was abolished and replaced with an appointment system, resulting in President Park being reappointed as the 13th president.
As of February 2009 Chung-Ang University had developed into a comprehensive institution comprising one general graduate school, five professional graduate schools, eleven specialised graduate schools, and eighteen modularized colleges across campuses in Seoul and Anseong. The university had conferred a total of 147,196 bachelor's degrees, 29,940 master's degrees, and 4,275 doctoral degrees.
In March 2014, Chung-Ang University began accepting competitive video game players into its Department of Sport Science, reflecting a broad embrace of emerging disciplines.
Academic structure and statistics
Colleges and schools The faculty-based system was replaced by a vice presidential system in 2014, with each college operated by its respective dean. As of 2014 there are 12 colleges and 49 departments.
Colleges Departments and schools Law• Central Law School (Graduate) Humanities• Philosophy • History • Korean Language and Literature • English Language and Literature • European Languages and Cultures • Asian Languages and Cultures Social Sciences• Political Science and International Relations • Public Service • Media Communication • Sociology • Psychology • Social Welfare • Library and Information Science • Urban Planning and Real Estate Education• Education • Early Childhood Education • English Education • Home Economics Education • Physical Education Natural Sciences• Physics • Chemistry • Life Sciences • Mathematics Biotechnology and Natural Resources• Bioresource and Bioscience (Anseong) • Food Science and Technology (Anseong) • Systems Biotechnology (Anseong) Engineering• Civil and Environmental Engineering, Urban Design and Studies • Architecture and Building Science • Chemical Engineering and Material Science • Mechanical Engineering • Electrical and Electronics Engineering • Integrative Engineering • Energy System Engineering • Advanced Materials Engineering (Anseong) Software• Computer Science and Engineering • Artificial Intelligence (AI) Business and Economics• Business Administration • Global Finance • Economics • Applied Statistics • Advertising and Public Relations • International Logistics • Industrial Security • Knowledge-Based Management Pharmacy• Pharmacy Medicine• Medicine Nursing• Nursing Arts Performance Film Creation (Seoul/Anseong) Creative Writing (Anseong) Theatre Film Studies Photography and Related Media (Anseong) Dance (Anseong) Theatre and Film Design Art (Anseong) Korean Painting Painting Sculpture Design (Anseong) Visual Communication Design Industrial Design Fashion Design Housing and Interior Design Crafts Music (Anseong) Composition Voice Piano Orchestral Music Traditional Arts (Anseong) Korean Music Performing Arts Art & Technology• Art & Technology (Anseong) Sports• Sports Science (Anseong)
Postgraduate programs The postgraduate programmes in Chung-Ang University are categorised into general graduate schools, professional schools, and specialised graduate schools.