Professor Sukbok Chang

Sukbok Chang was born and raised in Gangwon-do, a rural province in Korea. The countryside was surrounded by high mountains and naturally his favorite activity as a young boy was looking up at the stars and examining the constellations. Thus he cultivated his interest in astronomy and in natural science in general, and in college he became a chemistry major, driven by his fascination in the field's way of probing nature through fundamental principles as well as its myriad practical applications. In the meantime, he discovered his passion in literature (Russian novels in particular) and tried his hand at writing, though he slowly realized his unfortunate lack of talent in writing non-scientific texts. In the graduate program, he ended up choosing organic chemistry as his research area largely due to the influence of his mentor, Prof. Sunggak Kim. This turned out to be the mere beginning of a series of good fortune in meeting great mentors: he had the pleasure of working under two amazing chemists Professors Eric Jacobsen and Robert Grubbs. Outside of his lab office, he has recently been enjoying immersing himself in German literature: Goethe, Nietzsche, and Hesse, in particular. This was most likely inspired by his recent three lecture trips to this country as a Humboldt Research Fellow. Above all, Sukbok always enjoys insightful discussions about chemistry as well as many more little but pleasant things with his coworkers and students !