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Young H. Chun, Ph.D.
One of my favorite songs starts with, "where do I begin to tell the story of how
great a life can be?" Born on the wrong side of the tracks in a less affluent
country, I've grown up as an "ugly duckling" on several fronts. (I think that's
why I started to collect miniature ducks while traveling abroad.)
I accepted that life is not fair, and left home at an early age to attend a
military boarding high school on a full scholarship. Since then, I have walked
on the long and winding road tirelessly. I eventually ended up here in a small
town in Louisiana.
Against all odds, I achieved the American dream.
I now started the second half of my life, and I can say, "La vita è bella (Life
is beautiful)!" I have a successful career, a beautiful wife, and two wonderful
children! What else do I want more in my life? (In my miniature duck collection, I recently added a few swans. )
A. My School
I am Professor of
Decision Science and I also hold the Cherie H.
Flores Endowed Chair of MBA Studies at Louisiana
State University (LSU). Founded in 1860, LSU is
the flagship institution of Louisiana. LSU's
total enrollment is more than 30,000 students,
including more than 1,700 international students
and 5,000 graduate students.
LSU is located on more than 2,000 acres in the
southern part of Baton Rouge, and is bordered on
the west by the Mississippi River. Although LSU
is a large campus, it is designed as a "walking
campus," and most students find it easy to
navigate by foot or by bike. The campus is noted
for its architecture, which is based on the
Renaissance domestic style of northern Italy.
LSU's landscaping was called "a botanical joy"
by Thomas Gaines, who listed LSU as one of the
20 most beautiful campuses in America in his
book The Campus as a Work of Art. LSU’s
extraordinary southern live oaks, magnolias,
crepe myrtles, azaleas, and camellias are as
much a part of the University tradition as
academics and athletics.
LSU has a proud tradition of college athletics
and has fielded nationally competitive teams in
most of its sports as a charter member of the
Southeastern Conference (SEC). LSU fans take
great pride in their Fighting Tigers. In an
informal poll by CBS-TV, LSU's Tiger Stadium,
popularly known as "Death Valley," was voted by
opposing teams as the nation's most difficult
stadium in which to play because of fan
enthusiasm. LSU teams draw some of the largest
crowds in all of college athletics.
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B. My Hometown
Baton Rouge, the capitol city of Louisiana, has
a metropolitan population of more than 500,000.
The city is at the center of south Louisiana's
cultural attractions, with New Orleans 70 miles
to the southeast, the antebellum country of the
Feliciana parishes to the north, and the Acadian
French Louisiana country of rivers, bayous,
marshes, and lakes to the west. Baton Rouge is
eclectic in nature with influences drawn from
native American, Spanish, English, French,
African, Cajun, and Creole cultures. This rich
diversity is evident in our people, our
architecture, our food, our music, and our
celebrations.
Louisiana is famous for its food
and its chefs, and the capitol city is no
exception. Baton Rouge offers innumerable ways
to excite your taste buds, with everything from
old-fashioned southern cooking to spicy Cajun
dishes. My adopted home state has a rich musical
heritage as well. It is the birthplace of Jazz
and is alive with the sounds of the blues,
rhythm & blues, Cajun, zydeco, gospel, country,
bluegrass, and rock.
Louisiana’s official nickname is the
"sportsman's paradise" and the Baton Rouge area
offers plenty to satisfy your thirst for
recreation and adventure. There are dozens of
rivers, bayous, marshes, and lakes that provide
opportunities for fishing, hunting, canoeing,
camping, nature hikes, and other recreation.
Baton Rouge also has a number of biking and
hiking trails, 36 recreation centers, 132
softball and baseball fields, two stadiums, six
golf courses, and 123 parks.
With average yearly temperatures of 76 degrees
and an average of 218 sunny days per year, Baton
Rouge is the place to be to enjoy everything
from crawfish boils to the ballet theater. We
invite you to visit us, and as we like to say,
"laissez le bon temps roulez!" (Let the good
times roll!)
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C. My Family
I have been happily married to Kay for a million
years, and we
have two wonderful children, Raymond and Angela.
Raymond is attending Baton Rouge Magnet High
School.
He is an excellent student - personal,
well-mannered, and athletic. Raymond is a member of Louisiana Youth
Orchestra and Baton Rouge Chamber Music Players,
and has won numerous awards from piano and
violin competitions, including the Outstanding
Musician award in the Louisiana Music Teachers
Association district rally. He also has finished
second in a local chess tournament. When Raymond
was attending Mayfair Elementary School, he
received the most courteous student award.
His 8th grade research project won the first
place at the regional fair and the third place
at the Louisiana State Social Studies Fair. His
science project finished first at the district
fair and fourth in the Louisiana State Science
and Engineering Fair. As one of the four members
of the Louisiana Mathcounts team, he has earned
a trip to Washington D. C. to compete in the
annual Mathcounts National Competition. Raymond
is collecting coins, stamps, and rocks. He also
plays tennis, baseball, and soccer as a member
of local youth league teams. Like his dad, he is
a die-hard LSU baseball, basketball, and
football fan.
Angela is attending the
Gifted and Talented Program at Glasgow Middle
School in Baton Rouge. Unlike any other typical
sisters of her age, she is getting along with
her brother very well. Angela is an avid reader
(i.e., book-worm), plays piano and violin, loves
puppies and kittens, and is good at fine art.
She has been chosen as the Outstanding Musician
for Level Prep A in the Louisiana Music Teachers
Association district rally. Angela finished
second in the Louisiana Music Teachers
Association state rally. Currently Angela is
playing violin for Louisiana Junior Youth
Orchestra. This year, her research project on
the parking space and the size of automobiles
won the second place at the regional Social
Studies Fair and advanced to the State
competition. She believes that her Mom is the
best cook in the world -- and we all agree with
her.
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Four years ago, Raymond graduated from Baton Rouge Magnet High School with the
perfect 4.0 -- and a lot of honors such
as the National Merit scholar, Beta
scholar, Siemens Westinghouse scholar,
and so on.
My wife and I had teary eyes
when he thanked us in his valedictorian
speech. He left big shoes for Angela to
fill. At first, Angela was not excited
to attend the same high school as her
brother's. it is not cool to hear, “Oh!
You must be Raymond's little sister,”
from the principal and teachers. But she
managed to finish the high school with
the same GPA, setting the record of 4.0
from K through 12.
After a campus visit to MIT and a few
days of careful calculations four years
ago, Raymond decided to attend
Rice
University in Houston on a full
scholarship. Since then, he has been the
happiest kid at Jones College (one of
nine residential colleges at Rice.)
Raymond obtained his B.S. degree in
Bioengineering this May. He received an
out-of-state tuition scholarship from
University of Texas Medical Branch
(UTMB), and will start four years of
medical school in Galveston, Texas.
During the first
semester of her senior year, Angela got
accepted early to Yale University. She
was later selected as one of the 14
Rice-Baylor medical scholars. After a
week of sleepless nights, she finally
decided to go to
Rice University on a
full scholarship - and a guaranteed
acceptance to
Baylor College of Medicine
in Houston.
Our kids are four years
apart, but they got accepted into
medical schools at the same time, making
me and my wife this year's Luckiest
Parents of the World.
After a trip to Italy and France this
summer, Raymond is working part-time in
Houston to save some money (He has his
own IRA!). Angela is having fun in
Ankara, Turkey this summer on the
National Security Language Initiative
scholarship sponsored by the U.S.
Department of State. And my wife and I
started to enjoy our second honeymoon in
the empty nest - without grumpy and
annoying kids!
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