In Memoriam of Professor Moon-Jung Chung

With deep regret and sense of loss, we report the untimely death of our colleague, Professor Moon Jung Chung, on October 27, 2005. He was only 55. Diagnosed with cancer in the spring of 2005, Dr Chung was in Korea pursuing a special treatment and was with family and friends at the time of his death.

Professor Chung was an internationally renowned scholar, teacher, and a mentor who cared deeply about his students. His work on design automation in general and in process management in particular has had a transformational effect on the field and on industry. His former work on parallel algorithms had a similar impact.

Dr. Chung received his PhD at Northwestern University in 1981 and joined the MSU Department of Computer Science in 1987 after serving on the faculty of RPI for six years. He has been advisor to twelve PhD students, has mentored six MS thesis students and several undergraduate research assistants, and he has published thirty journal papers. Among his achievements, in 2005 he was Associate Editor of the International Journal of Agile Manufacturing and the International Journal of CAD/CAM and was President of Korean Computer Scientists and Engineers. He taught courses in computational theory, parallel systems, algorithms and data structures. His research impact in the manufacturing area was blossoming in the last three years.

Dr. Chung was the beloved husband of wife SeJin and father of son Heesoo and daughter Catherine. He was an avid downhill skier and last fall hiked 100 miles of the Appalachian Trail with his son. As he leaves us behind on the Trail, we miss his steps and mourn our loss.