Born at the turn of the century when Korean women were strictly secluded, HELEN KIM's career has been intimately interwoven with their struggle for opportunities and expression. She was led to this concern as a student at Ewha Haktang. This first school to provide a modern education for Korean girls had been founded at Seoul in 1886 by Methodist missionaries with one student in attendance. By 1929, Ewha Haktang offered courses from kindergarten through college.

Though Koreans were discouraged from higher education after the Japanese annexation of their country in 1910, HELEN KIM completed her studies at Ewha, did graduate work with honors abroad and became the first Korean woman to hold a doctorate. As dean and professor, later as Vice-President and after 1939 as President of Ewha, she gave of her abundant energy, wit and devotion to prepare women for wider responsibility.

World War II brought the first crucial test of HELEN KIM's courage. School curricula were rigidly prescribed as the Japanese sought to enforce a system antithetical to Christian belief. Although then denied foreign support, Ewha held to its motto of Truth, Goodness and Beauty and to its insistence upon human dignity.

The bright promise of Korean independence in 1945 was dimmed by difficulties of rehabilitation, but Ewha became a university and its curriculum expanded to meet the challenge of service in the Republic. The Communist attack, in the summer of 1950, drove Ewha to its "campus in exile" at Pusan. There for two and one-half years classes were held in rough sheds with tent roofs and no floors. Dr. KIM took Ewha Womans University back to Seoul with the signing of the truce in 1953 to find the campus looted and wrecked. Again rehabilitation was achieved with the help of parents, patrons and foreign friends. In 1961 HELEN KIM retired from active direction to chairmanship of the Board of Trustees. Under her leadership, Ewha has made a contribution to higher education for women unmatched in Korea. With its student body of over 6,500, Ewha now enrolls one-half of all Korean women who attend college and is the largest women's university in the world.

A fervent patriot, HELEN KIM helped found the Young Women's Christian Association in 1922, and develop its literacy work that fostered the movement for Korean cultural awareness and independence. She was founder of The Korean Times and remained as publisher for three years. As an active member of their boards she has helped build the 4-H Clubs, the Korean Research Library and the International Night School. Five Korean Missions to the United Nations General Assembly have included her as a distinguished member. A devout Christian, she has given liberally of herself to her church and its work at home and abroad.