Koo Hyeng-keun, a professor of financial engineering at Ajou University, was recently named the eighth chairman of the Korean Association of Financial Engineering for a one-year term that began in January.

Koo is considered a pioneer in the field of financial engineering, an application of technical methods, especially in mathematical and computational finance.

For instance, in financial engineering, differential and integral calculus is used for calculating the prices of financial derivative products and for strategic hedging to minimize investment risk.

In Korea, new light is being shed on Koo’s field of study after the government designated finance one of the five service sectors that the country would promote by offering incentives and cutting red tape.

Koo, a regular contributor to top financial academic journals such as the Journal of Finance, served as an assistant professor at Washington University in St. Louis and at Pohang University of Science and Technology prior to moving to Ajou University.

Koo majored in mathematics at Seoul National University and attended the university’s graduate school. He then received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas in Austin, also in mathematics. From Princeton University, Koo received a Ph.D. in economics.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)