Ahn Byong-man (8 February 1941 – 31 May 2022) was a South Korean

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

, and the former President of

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (abbreviated as HUFS; Korean: 한국외국어대학교) is a private research university based in Seoul, in South Korea. HUFS consistently ranks as one of the best universities in South Korea. The university ...

. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees from the

Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a national public research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1946, Seoul National University is largely considered the most prestigious university in South Korea; it is one of the three "S ...

in 1964 and 1967, and went on to the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

for doctoral studies, graduating in 1973. In 1975 he joined the faculty of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, South Korea. While at this institution he served as the Dean of Student Affairs, Dean of the Graduate School, and in 1994 he was named president. He served in this capacity until 2004. Ahn was a

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

Scholar-in-Residence at the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...

, and received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from the University of Delaware in 2004. He was also a visiting professor at the university. He also received a University of Florida Distinguished Alumnus Award in May 2005. A non-party politician, he served as Minister for Education, Science and Technology in the

Lee Myung-bak government The Lee Myung-bak government (, RR: ''I Myeong-bak Jeongbu'') was the fifth government of the Sixth Republic of South Korea. It took office on 25 February 2008 after Lee Myung-bak's victory in the 2007 presidential elections. Most of the new cab ...

from 6 August 2008 until 30 August 2010. During his tenure, he pushed through an ambitious reform of English-as-a-foreign-language education in South Korea to reduce the reliance on

hagwon Hagwon () is the Korean-language word for a for-profit private institute, academy, or cram school prevalent in South Korea. Although most widely known for their role as "cram schools", where children can study to improve test scores, hagwons actu ...

in teaching the language. One of the first steps he took in this regard was to begin the development of a new English proficiency test modeled on Japan's

STEP Eiken — informally, ; often called STEP Eiken or the STEP Test — is an English language test conducted by a Japanese public-interest incorporated foundation, the Eiken Foundation of Japan (formerly the Society for Testing English Proficien ...

test, the

National English Ability Test National English Ability Test, normally called NEAT, is a test of ability to understand and use English. The test was developed in South Korea by the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE). It provides for testing in speaking, listeni ...

, with the aim of replacing the

TOEIC The Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) is an international standardized test of English language proficiency for non-native speakers. It is intentionally designed to measure the everyday English skills of people working in an ...

and

TOEFL Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL ) is a standardized test to measure the English language ability of non-native speakers wishing to enroll in English-speaking universities. The test is accepted by more than 11,000 universities a ...

for domestic purposes such as university admissions and job candidate selection. Around the same time, he also requested the resignations of seven senior officials in the Ministry.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahn, Byong-man 1941 births 2022 deaths People from Seoul Kyunggi High School alumni Seoul National University School of Law alumni University of Florida alumni Academic staff of Myongji University South Korean political scientists Presidents of universities and colleges in South Korea Education ministers of South Korea Academic staff of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Juksan Ahn clan Fulbright alumni