Two new department heads come aboard

Lohr College of Engineering welcomes new department heads in electrical engineering and computer science and mathematics and statistics for the 2024-25 academic year.

Sungyong “Yong” Jung, electrical engineering and computer science, began work July 1 at South Dakota State University after a 22-year career at the University of Texas at Arlington. He was associate chair of the electrical engineering department for the last seven years.

Jung earned his doctorate in electrical and computer engineering from Georgia Tech in 2002 and worked at Quellan, an integrated circuit designer, in Atlanta from 2001 to 2002.

Jung fills the shoes of George Hamer, who served as acting department head from Feb. 11, 2022, until June 21, 2024. Hamer, who has taught at SDSU for 35 years, will continue in the classroom this fall.

Jung said he was drawn to SDSU by its passion and potential to grow and its reputation. His top three priorities as department head are fairness, transparency and cooperation.

Jung, who is married to Min Hwa Jung, is originally from Seoul, South Korea. Personal interests include watching movies, exercising, listening to music and singing. 

Eun Heui Kim, mathematics and statistics, began work June 22 after a 23-year career at the California State University-Long Beach. She was director of the National Science Foundation program within the Division of Mathematical Sciences from 2020 to 2023.

She succeeds Kurt Cogswell, who retired June 21 after 27 years in the department, the last 20 as department head.

Kim grew up in South Korea and came to the University of Connecticut to earn a doctorate in mathematics, which she completed in 1999. That was followed by two years of postdoctoral work at the University of Houston. She then began her career at Long Beach.

Her top three priorities for the department are to strengthen the graduate programs, enhance research infrastructure and support high-quality education, and provide a sense of belonging and inclusiveness.

In her spare time, Kim enjoys walking, running, hiking, watching Netflix and traveling.