A Family of Firsts

EJ Park's childhood memories include a massive dictionary that was so big it sat on its own stand with wheels, a complete set of the Encyclopedia Britannica that was impossible to read without the aforementioned dictionary, and his own lab bench in his father's chemistry laboratory at the University of Colorado. With such teachers as parents, His education was literally 24/7/365 — with scientific methodology from one side and semantics from the other.

Although Dr. Park rarely taught undergraduates, occasionally he would teach a Chem 101 introductory class — which would be instantly filled with a long waiting list because of student word-of-mouth. In the class, Dr. Park would ask students to bring in various household items and he would explain the role of chemistry in everything from drain cleaner to baking soda to plastic wrap to aerosol sprays and Scotch tape.

EJ Park's father was recruited by the US (Johnson administration) and Korean governments to bring his unique skills, experience, and vision to create the post-Korean War partnership between Korea's educational system and its emerging industry — patterned after his own career, where his time was spent constantly moving back and forth between industry and academia, never losing sight of his personal view of the role of education: to apply what you have learned in order to make a difference in the real world.

All of his graduate students were assigned research projects from Dr. Park's industry contacts, and he would even delay the final oral exams until the student had a firm offer of employment. (See page 389 of Origins of Korean State Science, by John Paul DiMoia.)

EJ Park was never able to sit in on one of his mother's classes, as she retired from teaching to start the family — however from his experiences at home and meeting some of his mother's former students, he knew that she too was a terrific teacher — albeit more strict and authoritarian in her method than his father.

As a young, female Korean teacher in the Honolulu public school system in the 1940s, Eric's mother was given the not-so-great assignments — with mostly what you would today call "problem students." Picture a five foot two, 98-pound woman collecting switchblades and other non-education related paraphernalia every day before class.

EJ Park says: "Looking back, it appears that there is a logical step-by-step progression that has brought me to this place and time with the ideas that I've developed over the years."

"I was raised in an ether of scientific method and semantics — to question everything, apply logic and imagination to determine hypotheses, then rigorously test those hypotheses and follow the results wherever they might lead," states Park.

While not explicitly demanded of him, it certainly seemed expected — although his parents were genuinely concerned when so much of their son's thinking was "outside the box," and often caused problems.