Professor Heekyung Park obtained his Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1990, and was a member of technical staff and technical supervisor at Montgomery-Watson-Harza until he joined the faculty of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in 1995. At KAIST, he was the Head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Dean of Strategic Planning and Budget, and Chief Finance Officer. He was also a Vice-President for the Korean Society of Water and Wastewater, and the Korean Society of Environmental Engineers. In March 2017, he became the Vice-President for Research at KAIST. He has published over 300 journal and conference papers and 14 patents in the areas of environmental and disaster management. He also received various awards for excellence in research and education.