The Korea Times
A growing number of professors with backgrounds in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are being appointed as university presidents, demonstrating a rapid shift in the leadership landscape that underscores a broader refocusing of institutional priorities toward research and advanced technology. As the government ramps up support for industry-academia collaboration and pushes to expand the advanced tech workforce, even universities long known for their strengths in the humanities are pivoting to expand their focus on natural sciences and engineering. Among institutions ranked in the top 30 of The Korea Times K-universities Global Excellence Rankings 2026, 19 institutions — a clear majority — are led by presidents with backgrounds in natural sciences or engineering. Hanyang University’s ERICA campus, ranked 19th, was excluded as it shares the same president as the main campus. To account for 30 distinct university leaders, the analysis was extended to include the 31st-ranked institution. The trend shows a sharp reversal from a decade ago. In 2016, 17 of the 30 pre
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