Heo Jin-gyu, the CEO of Iljin received an honorary doctorate degree from POSTECH. POSTECH nominated Chairman Heo as the honorary doctorate with Materials Science and Engineering degree, and the degree was granted at the graduation ceremony on Feb. 9.

Chairman Heo graduated Seoul National University with the degree of metal engineering. In 1968, he started business venture from scratch, founding Iljin Metal Industrial Corporation to change Korea which was relying on imports even for small mechanical components. Researching on copper covered steel for the first time in Korea in 1976, Chairman Heo focused on the manufacturing of components and materials, raising the corporation into a company with three trillion KRW yearly sale.

In addition, he filled various posts including the chairman of the National Academy of Engineering of Korea, Korea Invention Promotion Center, and Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, promoting the development of human resources in the field of natural sciences and engineering.

POSTECH highly appreciated Chairman Heo’s spirit of innovation for insisting on self-research and development of more than 90% of production items, and his significant contribution to the development of manufacturing industry of Korea.

“Chairman Heo’s life of entrepreneurship and innovative engineer will be an excellent exemplar to Postechians.” said President Kim Doh-Yeon.