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Ewha Womans University

이화여자대학교
Other name	Idae (이대·梨大)
Motto	진·선·미 (眞·善·美)
Motto in English	Truth·Goodness·Beauty
Type	Private research higher education institution
Established	1886; 138 years ago (1886)
Founder	Mary F. Scranton
President	Eun Mee Kim
Academic staff	980
Administrative staff	55
Students	20,330
Undergraduates	14,812
Postgraduates	5,518
Location	Seodaemun, Seoul, South Korea 37°33′45″N 126°56′42″E / 37.56250°N 126.94500°E / 37.56250; 126.94500
Campus	Urban, 54.5 ha (135 acres)
Colors	Ewha green
Website	www.ewha.ac.kr
Korean name
Hangul	이화여자대학교
Hanja	梨花女子大學校
Revised Romanization	Ihwa Yeoja Daehakgyo
McCune–Reischauer	Ihwa Yŏja Taehakkyo

Ewha Womans University (Korean: 이화여자대학교; Hanja: 梨花女子大學校) is a private women's research university in Seoul, South Korea. It was originally founded as Ewha Haktang on May 31, 1886, by missionary Mary F. Scranton. Currently, Ewha Womans University is one of the world's largest female educational institutes and one of the most prestigious universities in South Korea. Ewha Womans University has produced numerous South Korean women leaders, including politicians, CEOs, and legal professionals.

History

Ewha Womans University traces its roots back to Mary F. Scranton's Ewha Haktang (이화학당; 梨花學堂) mission school for girls, which opened with one student on May 31, 1886. The name Ewha, which means "Pear Blossom", was bestowed by the Emperor Gojong the following year. The image of the pear blossom is incorporated in the school's logo.

The school began providing college courses in 1910, and professional courses for women in 1925. The high school section, now known as Ewha Girls' High School (not to be confused with the coeducational Ewha Womans University High School, the university's demonstration school, founded in 1958), separated from the college section and is currently located in Jung-gu, Seoul. Both institutions share the same motto and the "pear blossoms" image in their logos.

Immediately following the liberation of Korea on August 15, 1945, the college received government permission to become a university. It was the first South Korean university to be officially organized.

List of principals and presidents

As the university branched out from the high school, the first six leaders were principles and those following are presidents.

• Mary F. Scranton (1886–1890)
• Louisa C. Rothweiler (1890–1892)
• Josephine O. Paine (1892–1907)
• Lulu E. Frey (1907–1921)
• A. Jeannette Walter (1921–1922)
• Alice Rebecca Appenzeller (1922–1939)
• Helen Kim (1939–1961)
• Kim Ok-Gil (1961–1979)
• Chung Ii-sook (ko) (1979–1990)
• Yoon Hoo Jung (ko) (1990–1996)
• Chang Sang (1996–2002)
• Shin In-ryung (ko) (2002–2006)
• Lee Bae-yong (2006–2010)
• Kim Sunuk (2010–2014)
• Choi Kyung-hee (ko) (2014–2016)
• Kim Hei-sook (2017–2021)
• Kim Eun Mee (ko) (2021–2025)
• Lee Hyang-Sook (ko) (2025– )

Student population

According to figures provided by the university in April 2018, there are 21,596 enrolled students at the university.

While figures on the student body's gender breakdown are not available, Korea JoongAng Daily reported in 2003 there were 10 male students enrolled at the time. In 2009, Asian Correspondent reported that male students make up 30% of all foreign international students at the university.

Collaborations

The university collaborates with around 830 partners in 64 countries including Australian National University, Cornell University, Free University of Berlin, Ghent University, Harvard University, Indiana University, King's College London, Mount Allison University, Nanyang Technological University, Ohio State University, Peking University, University of Kuala Lumpur, University of California, Santa Cruz, University of British Columbia, University of Edinburgh, University of Hong Kong, University of South Carolina, Uppsala University, Waseda University, and a direct exchange program with Mills College in Oakland, California.

Name

The university explains its unusual name by saying that while the lack of an apostrophe in "Womans University" is unconventional, the use of "Woman" rather than "Women" was normal in the past.

Museum

Ewha Womans University Museum opened in April 1935. It has a wide range of artifacts, ranging from paintings, ceramics, crafts, doubles, and folk items, and its main collection is the Korean National Treasure No. 107 white porcelain, iron, and grape jars. The museum consists of a permanent exhibition hall, a planning exhibition hall, a donation exhibition hall, and a Damin Goksik art museum.

Controversies and criticisms

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Helen Kim

Helen Kim, the seventh principal and first Korean principal of Ewha, is considered to be pro-Japanese. She is known to have encouraged young men to enlist in the Japanese army. The statue of Helen Kim and the building named after her on campus have both been criticized. Many protests were organized to take down the statue.

Women's rights movements

While Ewha Womans University has been the center of women's rights movements, this feminist feature created controversies in Korea. One example was men's benefit from military service. Originally, getting extra points on employment and being paid for higher step in the salary class were available to males who had done their mandatory military service. In 1999, a couple of Ewha Womans University students and one male student, who was a disabled student at Yonsei University, claimed that this law was both sexist and discriminatory toward disabled people. This case eventually went to court, and the court ruled in the students' favor.

2016 South Korean political scandal

Ewha Womans University became embroiled in the 2016 South Korean political scandal, because a former student, Chung Yoo-ra, had been admitted under a special rule change by virtue of her mother's close connections to South Korean President Park Geun-hye despite not meeting requirements. Students had already been protesting against some of the university's unilateral changes to the degree system and departments before the political scandal blew up. As a result, the university's president, Choi Kyunghee, was ousted and convicted and Chung Yoo-Ra's degree was rescinded.

Awards

• 321st in the 2013 Leiden Ranking, a qualitative assessment of faculty research in the world's top 500 universities.
• 299th in the QS World University Rankings in 2018.
• Ninth among all Korean universities in the Chosun-QS Evaluation of Asian Universities in 2016.

Distinguished Honorary Ewha Fellows

• Hillary Clinton — former United States secretary of state.
• Drew Gilpin Faust — president of Harvard University.
• Tarja Halonen — The 11th president of Finland.

Distinguished Honorary Ewha Doctorates

• Ban Ki-moon — former secretary-general of the United Nations.
• Angela Merkel — former chancellor of Germany.
• Kersti Kaljulaid — President of Estonia.
• Michelle Bachelet — former president of Chile.
• Ertharin Cousin — former executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme.

Distinguished Fellows of the Ewha Academy for Advanced Studies

• Muhammad Yunus — president of Grameen Bank and the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize recipient.
• George Smoot — recipient of Nobel Prize in Physics in 2006.
• Robert H. Grubbs — American chemist and a Nobel laureate.
• Jane Goodall — British anthropologist.
• Jocelyn Bell Burnell — professor of astrophysics at Oxford University.

Notable alumni

Politics and government

• Choi Young-ae — current and first female chair of National Human Rights Commission of Korea.
• Chun Hui-kyung — current member of the National Assembly.
• Han Myeong-sook — former and first female Prime Minister of South Korea.
• Jeon Yeo-ok — South Korean politician.
• Kim Yoon-ok — former first lady, the wife of South Korean president Lee Myung-bak.
• Lee Mi-kyung (politician) — current and first female president of Korea International Cooperation Agency.
• Lee Tai-young — first Korean female lawyer and first female judge.
• Son Myung-soon — former first lady, the wife of South Korean president Kim Young-sam.
• Yoo Eun-hae — current and first female deputy prime minister of South Korea.

Business

• Lee Yoon-hyung — Samsung Group chief Lee Kun-hee's daughter.

Science

• Insoo Kim Berg — Korean-born American psychotherapist.
• Kyung J. Kwon-Chung — NIH scientist who is chief, molecular microbiology section, at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
• Esther Park — first Korean female doctor.
• So-Jung Park — award-winning Korean professor of chemistry.
• Yoo-Yeon Kim — tripleS member.

Sports

• Hong Eun-ah — youngest Korean FIFA referee.
• Kim Hae-jin – South Korean figure skater.
• Kwak Min-jeong — South Korean figure skater.

Entertainment

• Claudia Kim — actress
• Goo Jae-yee – actress
• Kim Hye-ja — actress
• Kim Seo-yeon — Miss Korea 2014
• Kim Yeo-jin — actress
• Kwak Hyun-hwa — actress
• Lee Yu-bi — actress
• Park Hae-mi — musical actress
• Seo Min-jung — actress
• Yang Jin-sung — actress
• Lilka – YouTuber and live streamer
• Roh Yoon-seo — actress and model

Others

• Chung Hyun Kyung — theologian, professor at Union Theological Seminary of Columbia University
• Sang Won Kang — academic
• Sanghee Song — artist
• Helen Kim — first female Korean Doctor of Philosophy, and also the first Korean female Bachelor of Arts.
• JaHyun Kim Haboush – scholar of history, literature, gender studies, and King Sejong Professor of Korean Studies at Columbia University
• Lee Ae-ran — first female North Korean defector to earn a doctorate, which she earned from Ewha Womans University in the subject of food and nutrition in 2009.
• Kim Jihee — artist
• Sui Park - artist

Affiliated facilities

• Ewha Womans University Museum
• Ewha Womans University Natural History Museum
• Ewha Womans University Medical Center
• Ewha Institute For Leadership Development
• Ewha Advanced IT Education Center
• Ewha School Of Continuing Education
• Ewha Language Center
• Ewha Archives
• Ewha Elementary School
• Ewha Kindergarten
• Ewha Kumnan High School
• Ewha Kumnan Middle School
• Youngran Information Industry High School
• Youngran Girl's Middle School

Public transportation

• Ewha Womans University Station
• Sinchon Station (Gyeongui Line)

See also

• Education in South Korea
• List of colleges and universities in South Korea
• Ewha Womans University Station
• Idae area
• Center for Quantum Nanoscience
• Texas Woman's University

References

1. "Ewha Information". Ewha Womans University Official Website.
2. Lee Jeong-kyu. (2001). The establishment of modern universities in Korea and their implications for Korean education policies. In Education Policy Analysis Archives 9 (27) Archived 2006-09-02 at the Wayback Machine
3. [임철순의 즐거운 세상] 가장 긴 제목. Hankook Ilbo (in Korean). January 30, 2014.
4. "Memorial exhibition to be held for Scranton". Ewha Voice. Ewha Womans University. May 18, 2009.
5. "Student Statistics". Ewha Womams University. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
6. "Minority Report: 10 men among 21,000 women". Korea JoongAng Daily. 10 June 2003. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
7. Schwartzman, Nathan (23 August 2009). "Foreign Male Students are at Ewha Women's University". Asian Correspondent. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
8. Compare Texas Woman's University, named in 1957, Randolph-Macon Woman's College, named in 1893, as well as Mississippi Woman's College and Woman's College of the University of North Carolina, all of which have since changed their names.
9. "2023 JoongAng Ilbo University Rankings". JoongAng Ilbo. 2022. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
10. "QS University Rankings 2025". Top Universities. 2025. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
11. "THE University Rankings 2025 - South Korea". Times Higher Education (THE). 2025. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
12. World University Rankings - 2023 (2024). "South Korea Universities in Top 500 universities". Academic Ranking of World Universities. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
13. "QS World University Rankings: Asia 2025". QS Quacquarelli Symonds Limited. 2025. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
14. "Asia University Rankings 2024". Times Higher Education. 2024. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
15. U.S.News & World Report (2024). "2024-2025 Best Global Universities in Asia". Retrieved June 24, 2024.
16. "Academic Ranking of World Universities". Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. 2024. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
17. "QS World University Rankings". QS Quacquarelli Symonds Limited. 2025. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
18. "THE World University Rankings". Times Higher Education. 2025. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
19. U.S.News & World Report (2024). "2024-2025 Best Global Universities Rankings". Retrieved June 24, 2024.
20. U.S.News & World Report (2024). "Best Global Universities in South Korea". Retrieved June 24, 2024.
21. "Young University Rankings 2024: South Korea". Times Higher Education (THE). 2024. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
22. 이대 학생위 "친일파 김활란 동상 철거하라". 25 March 2005.
23. 이화여대 김활란 총장 동상...매번 훼손되는 이유는. 31 July 2016.
24. "An epic battle between feminism and deep-seated misogyny is underway in South Korea". 2016-10-23. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
25. 군가산점제 위헌판결, 불붙은 논쟁의 시작. 여성신문. 2014-02-20. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
26. "Ex-Ewha Univ. chief faces arrest over Chung Yoo-ra admission". 2017-01-24. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
27. (CWTS), Centre for Science and Technology Studies. "CWTS Leiden Ranking". CWTS Leiden Ranking.
28. "Ewha Womans University". Top Universities. 29 July 2017.
29. "QS University Rankings: Asia 2016". Top Universities. 8 June 2016.
30. Ledyard, Gari (2010). "Remembering JaHyun Kim Haboush: An Obituary". Vol. 2, no. 2. Korean Histories. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
31. "In the News – North Korean defectors emerge from periphery | MOU OneKorea". Mouonekorea.wordpress.com. 2012-04-20. Retrieved 2016-11-13.

External links

• EWHA by ArchiDiAP
• Official website, in Korean and English
• Official website for international programs, in Korean and English
• Ewha Womans University Museum at Google Cultural Institute

• Ewha Womans University
• Universities and colleges established in 1886
• Universities and colleges in Seoul
• Women's universities and colleges in South Korea
• Seodaemun District
• Merrell Hitotsuyanagi buildings
• Association of Christian Universities and Colleges in Asia
• 1886 establishments in Korea
• Private universities and colleges in South Korea
• Universities and colleges in Korea under Japanese rule
• Women in Korea under Japanese rule