<Opening Special Talk with Two Presidents> is an interactive session between the presidents of the two hosting organizations of ELIS: Ewha Womans University and Henry Luce Foundation. In this session, the two presidents share their insights on women’s leadership particularly from the perspectives of preparing for the rapidly changing and heavily technoscientific society in the post-COVID-19 era. The two presidents share inspiring stories from their personal and professional experiences. They also share the vision of the two organizations on providing opportunities for nurturing women leaders.
This session is moderated by Dr. SOHN Jie-ae, a visiting professor at Ewha Womans University. Christine Henri, 2021 ELIS participant representative, also takes part in this session as an interviewer. Her questions, which were gathered from her fellow 2021 ELIS participants, add diversity to the dialogue.
Eun Mee KIM is the 17th President of Ewha Womans University. She is a Professor in the Graduate School of International Studies. She was appointed as the Vice-Chairperson of the Korean National Commission for UNESCO, and as one of the fifteen Independent Group of Scientists to work on the Global Sustainable Development Report 2019 by the UN Secretary-General. She has served as President of the Korea Association of International Development and Cooperation. She received the first research grant to a university in South Korea from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on her research. Her research interests are economic development of South Korea and East Asian countries, international development cooperation, globalization, and multiculturalism.
Mariko SILVER is the president and CEO of the Henry Luce Foundation. She was previously the president of Bennington College. During the Obama administration, she served for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as Acting Assistant Secretary and Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Policy. Dr. Silver also served for Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano as the Policy Advisor for Economic Development, Innovation, and Higher Education. Prior to her government service, Dr. Silver was instrumental in the transformation and expansion of Arizona State University, leading in work on economic development policy and metrics, science, technology and innovation policy, state K-12 and higher education policy, sustainability science, and global health. Dr. Silver is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She serves on the boards of Scholars at Risk, African Leadership University, and the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA). Dr. Silver holds a Ph.D. in Economic Geography from UCLA; MSc, Science and Technology Policy from SPRU, University of Sussex (UK) and B.A., History from Yale University.
