Noted philanthropist and supporter of higher education throughout the world, Dr. Sang-Kyun Lee, CEO of South Korea-based Shin-Il Corporation and chairman of the Shin-Il Foundation, will be awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Cal State San Bernardino.
 
Dr. Lee will be honored during the university’s College of Arts & Letters Commencement ceremony on June 15 at 8 p.m., which will be held at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario.
 
“It is my great pleasure to recognize Dr. Lee for his compassionate generosity, extensive support of education, and significant contributions to promoting better human understanding and cooperation on a global scale,” said CSUSB President Tomás D. Morales. “His exemplary service and extraordinary commitment to Cal State San Bernardino and to higher education worldwide is truly inspiring.”
 
Dr. Lee has been instrumental in increasing the philanthropy of the Shin-Il Educational Foundation through significant grants to individual universities in different parts of the world to support both students and faculty. These grants have also promoted student exchanges and faculty visitation programs. In addition, the Shin-Il Foundation has made significant donations to the International Association of University Presidents (IAUP), which has members worldwide.
 
For Cal State San Bernardino, Dr. Lee has supported and promoted study abroad programs, student exchanges between American and Korean students, faculty visitation programs, as well as expanded studies of Korean culture. In addition, with Dr. Lee’s support, the 50-member CSUSB Chamber Orchestra has been invited to perform at the renowned Seoul Arts Center, the country’s premier performing arts venue in October 2019.
 
As head of the Shin-Il Foundation, Dr. Lee is in charge of managing grants to Shin-Il junior and senior high schools, which have an aggregate population of approximately 1,500 students. The foundation also supports Seoul Cyber University, the most prestigious online school in South Korea that awards both bachelor’s degrees and master’s degrees. The university currently enrolls about 10,000 students.
 
Dr. Lee also chairs the board of the Korea-Sweden Arts and Culture Society, which promotes and expands upon the relationship between Sweden and Korea in the area of culture, the arts and education. Since 2016, Dr. Lee has served as honorary consul of Sweden in Incheon and Gwangwon-do, Korea, respectively.
 
In terms of his contributions to Korean society, Dr. Lee is vice-chairman of the Seoul Metropolitan City chapter of the Korean National Red Cross. Additionally, Dr. Lee is a member of standing committee of The National Unification Advisory Council of Korea. The chairman is the national President of Korea. Dr. Lee also serves as board member of a UN organization International Vaccine Institute (IVI).
 
The Association of Korean Journalists selected Dr. Lee as its Person of the Year in 2016 in the field of education. Dr. Lee is married. He and his wife, a concert pianist, have one child – a daughter.
 
For more information on Cal State San Bernardino, contact the university’s Office of Strategic Communication at (909) 537-5007 and visit inside.csusb.edu.