Young-Kee Kim - Candidate for Vice President

Louis Block Distinguished Service Professor & Chair
The University of Chicago

Candidate Statement

The mission of APS is to advance and diffuse the knowledge of physics for the benefit of humanity, promote physics, and serve the broader physics community. Never have these goals been more important than the present. Issues such as public disregard of scientific expertise have been amplified during the pandemic. Open international scientific collaboration has become challenging. Building trust with the public at large is critical. The sad events of the last two years have awoken many of us to the racial injustices—the physics community is not immune to these events. Despite some progress, equity, diversity, and inclusion, and attracting diverse talents to physics are enormous challenges. Rapid changes in government policies during the pandemic further illustrate the importance of forward-looking but calm and sober voices from APS leadership in order to promote effective communication with government leaders. But first and foremost, APS leadership should be responsive to APS members.

While my research is in experimental particle physics, I have an appreciation and understanding of various fields in physics, science, and technology and their connection to industry and policy. I have served and been serving on the APS Board of Directors, Council, and Physics Policy Committee, and on many national and international advisory committees for organizations with diverse science and technology missions. I am Chair of the Physics Department and Senior Advisor for Global Scientific Initiatives at the University of Chicago and have served as Deputy Director of Fermilab. Last year, together with leaderships from various APS divisions and in collaboration with international partners, I as DPF Chair led a decadal community planning exercise for particle physics. Throughout my career, I have led numerous initiatives to improve equity, diversity, and inclusion.

I remain confident that we as a Society can deal successfully with our challenges. I would be honored to serve in the presidential line during these difficult times.

Educational History

  • PhD, University of Rochester (1990)
  • MS, Korea University (1986)
  • BS, Korea University (1984)

URL for Full Bio or CV

Top 5 Honors, Awards, or Recognition

  • Fellow, American Physical Society (2004)
  • Member, American Academy of Arts & Sciences (2017)
  • Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (2011)
  • Ho-Am Prize (2005)
  • Fellow, Alfred P. Sloan (1997)

Most Recent APS Volunteer History

  • APS Board of Directors (2015-2017)
  • APS Council (2014-2017)
  • Vice Chair (2018), Chair-Elect (2019), Chair (2020), Past Chair (2021), APS Division of Particles and Fields
  • APS Task Force on Expanding International Engagement (2017-2018)
  • APS Forum on International Physics Executive Committee (2014-2017)

Membership in Other Societies

  • American Association for the Advancement of Science
  • Korean American Scientists and Engineers Association
  • Association of Korean Physicists in America

Other Relevant Experience

Experiences gained through chairing various organizations/committees (e.g., the Department of Physics, Faculty Coordination Team on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, and Women in Science Committee, U.Chicago; NSF Mathematical and Physical Sciences subcommittee; DOE Exascale Computing workshop; TRIUMF Advisory Committee, Canada; DESY Physics Research Committee, Germany; Review Committee, Physics Department, Oxford University; KEK Science Advisory Committee, Japan; International Advisory Committee for Future Colliders, China; International Advisory Committee, Underground Physics Center, South Korea) and through leadership roles such as Senior Advisor to the Provost for Global Scientific Initiatives, U.Chicago; Deputy Director, Fermilab; and Co-spokesperson of the CDF Experiment.

Back to Election Homepage