| Ahn Cheol-Soo | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 26, 1962 Busan, South Korea |
| Nationality | South Korean |
| Other names | Charles Ahn |
| Ethnicity | Korean |
| Alma mater | Seoul National University University of Pennsylvania |
| Occupation | Professor, entrepreneur, researcher, programmer, physician |
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Employer | Seoul National University |
| Known for | V3 (antivirus software) |
| Home town | Busan, South Korea |
| Title | Dean, Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology, SNU |
| Board member of | AhnLab Inc |
| Religion | Buddhist |
| Spouse | Kim Mi-Kyung |
| Children | 1 daughter |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 안철수 |
| Hanja | 安哲秀 |
| Revised Romanization | An Cheol-Su |
| McCune–Reischauer | An Ch'ŏlsu |
| Website | |
| http://global.ahnlab.com | |
| Notes | |
Ahn Cheol-Soo (Hangul: 안철수; born February 26, 1962) is a South Korean professor and businessperson. He founded AhnLab, Inc. (also known as Ahnlab), an antivirus software company, in 1995. Now he is the dean of the Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology at Seoul National University and also serving as chairman of the board of AhnLab and its Chief Learning Officer, and chairman of the board of Noritown Studio, originally an internal corporate venture of AhnLab, now operating as a separate entity.
Contents |
Ahn was born on February 26, 1962 in Busan, South Korea. He earned his MD, MS and PhD in physiology from Seoul National University (1980 - 1991). He individually researched computer antivirus software programs while at Seoul National University Hospital and Dankook University Hospital, and founded venture after resigning from his medical duties. Later AhnLab Inc became the largest computer security company in South Korea,[4][5] and has been included in recent annual lists of the Korea’s most admired companies by Korea Management Association Consultants (KMCA).[6][7][8][9][10]
Ahn holds a MSE from University of Pennsylvania (1997) and an MBA from Wharton (2008). He resigned as CEO in 2005, and since then he has been serving as chairman of the board. Ahn became an outside director of POSCO in 2005, and in 2010, he was appointed chairman of the company.
In 1988 he married Kim Mi-kyung. In 2002, his wife resigned from her position of associate professor at Sungkyunkwan University Medical School and went to the U.S. to study at the University of Washington School of Law similar to the way Ahn had gone. Upon graduation, she was admitted to the bar of California and New York. Since 2008, she has been teaching patent law at KAIST. Ahn has a daughter with Kim.[11][12][13]
In early September 2011, speculation spread that Ahn would enter politics by competing in the October 26 Seoul mayoral by-election. Analysts say that if positioned as an independent, Ahn would attract a degree of support from those disaffected by mainstream political parties in the wake of corruption allegations and continuing policy failures. As a medical doctor, professor, self-taught computer entrepreneur, and corporate leader, Ahn is representative of everything mainstream Korea dreams of becoming.[14] Ahn's political motivation is very similar to Roh Moo-hyun-led populism in 2002.[15]
Na Kyung-won was active in a smear campaign against Ahn and his support of Park Won-soon.[16] Park, however, was elected mayor of Seoul.
Ahn has expressed his willingness to donate half of his shares in AhnLab for the education of children from low-income families. He owns 37.1 percent of AhnLab shares, and as of 9 December 2011, the value of the shares to be donated is about 250 billion won ($218 million).[17]