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Yonsei News

[YONSEI NEWS] “Broaden Your Thinking with Humanities Studies”

연세대학교 홍보팀 / news@yonsei.ac.kr
2010-10-21

Special Lecture by Joseph Bae and Janice Lee On October 6 a special lecture was held at Yonsei Unviersity Daewoo Hall Leader’s Forum. Joseph Bae (KKR Partner and Asian Branch CEO) and NY Times best-selling writer Ms. Janice Lee Bae gave a collaborative lecture discussing their mutual successes. Mr. Bae’s parents, Yonsei alumni, came to attend the special lecture as well. Five students who are mentored by Joseph Bae prepared the presentation for Mr. Bae. Through their presentation, the audience learned about private equity and KKR, and the couple’s love story dating back to their freshman year at Harvard University. Mr. Bae majored in Humanities Studies such as History, Literature, and Philosophy, while his wife Janice Lee majored in English Literature at Harvard. Now the extremely successful couple have four kids. Mr. Bae started working at Goldman Sachs in 1994 and transferred to KKR in 1996. Currently, he is Partner and Asia branch CEO based in Hong Kong. KKR also acquired Korea’s OB Beers. Janice Lee worked for a magazine but soon pursued her passion for writing. Her first book “The Piano Teacher” became the first NY Times best seller written by a Korean national. The book is translated in 25 languages. Mr. Bae started his lecture with expressions of joy for visiting his father’s alma mater. He explained private equity concepts and introduced his company KKR which holds the 2nd highest ranking in the world. He emphasized the importance of being a creative leader, who can discover what others cannot. He encouraged the students to follow his example and learn from him how to think expansively. He also explained that he chose a small company like KKR over MBA because he was a true risk taker who was not afraid of failure at all. Ms Lee said that with interest and passion, one can become successful in any kind of profession and that luck only comes to those who prepare. She also said that whenever she faced challenges, her family was there to help her. She emphasized the importance of family above everything else. After their precious lecture, a one-hour Q&A session followed. Students asked many questions regarding life choices, profession, and balance between work and family. Kim Sung-mook (Business, 07) said that “hearing their love story and success story made me realize the importance of family, and finding my passion.” Dean Park San-yong also presented the couple with a plaque of gratitude and souvenirs.