Member Profile
Young-Jin Kim
MBA’84, Kelley School of Business
CEO, Sanofi-Aventis
Seoul, Korea
Entrepreneur, husband, father, golfer, IUAA life member
Why I chose IU
IU has a beautiful campus in a very nice small town, and the Kelley School of Business provides an excellent MBA program. I was living in New Jersey, near New York, when I was making the decision about which MBA program to enroll in. IU and New York University were the final candidates. I chose IU because of the quality of the MBA program IU provides and because Bloomington is quite different from the crowded, big-city life in Seoul, Korea, where I grew up.
Favorite memories of IU
I have many good memories of my classes and group studies, which enabled me to learn a lot of new things. I played tennis a lot and started to learn golf, which is now my favorite sport. I also enjoyed the concerts and musicals that are unique to IU and its famous School of Music. But the best memory is the birth of my first son, Daniel Dong Han, at Bloomington Hospital. Daniel now attends IU.
Advice to undergraduates
Your college years are one of the most important times in your life. Try to balance your time between study and fun. Set your goals for the future. Four years pass by very quickly, so don’t wait or waste your time. Make many good friends who will be valuable to your future private life and career.
Why the IU Alumni Association is important to me
I started to be active as the secretary of the Korean Students Club during my time in Bloomington. After returning to Seoul, I got involved with the Korea Chapter of the IUAA, where I could meet a lot of IU alumni and develop a network of many good people. This great IU network helped me in both my private and business life. I was asked to join the international committee of the IU Foundation and the board of directors of the Kelley School of Business Alumni Association, thanks to my active role in the Korea Chapter. I am really enjoying coming back to Bloomington every year to attend those meetings.