Jaehong Kim, the Henry P. Becton Sr. Professor of Engineering in the Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science, has been appointed the next head of Berkeley College, Yale College Dean Pericles Lewis announced in a message to the community today.
He will succeed David Evans, a professor of Earth and planetary sciences in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, who has been the head of Berkeley since 2016.
College heads serve as the chief administrative officer and presiding faculty member within the residential colleges, and help nurture the social, cultural, and educational life there, a role that has become a cherished Yale tradition.
Kim joined Yale in 2013 after 11 years on the faculty of the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he served as the Georgia Power Distinguished Professor and as associate chair for Undergraduate Programs in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. At Yale, he served as chair of Yale Engineering’s Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering from 2016 to 2022, providing thoughtful and steady leadership during a period of growth and change.
He will begin a five-year term at Berkeley College on July 1.
“My daughter Hazel’s time at Berkeley College offered me a firsthand view of how a residential college can shape a student’s life during their bright college years and beyond, and I am honored for the opportunity to be part of that tradition for the next generation of Berkeleyites,” he said.
Kim’s research focuses on developing innovative technologies to improve water quality and access. His work includes solar-driven disinfection approaches designed for resource-limited settings, such as upconversion phosphor materials that convert visible light into germicidal ultraviolet light; food-dye-sensitized disinfection methods that both inactivate pathogens and signal water safety through a color change; and photothermal disinfection systems that use sunlight to generate localized heat at material surfaces. He has traveled with graduate and undergraduate students to learn directly from water challenges around the world, including through his course “Environmental Technologies in the Developing World.”
He is also widely recognized for applying advanced materials to water treatment. His group has developed nanoscale catalysts — and more recently, single-atom catalysts — that degrade water contaminants using light and electricity, as well as membrane filters that can self-heal after damage. His recent work includes household-scale electrochemical reactors for treating groundwater contaminants, paired with sensors for real-time water-quality monitoring, developed in collaboration with the Yale School of Public Health through the Yale Superfund Research Center, where he serves as deputy director.
Jaehong Kim, left, with his wife Yanghee Kim, who will serve as the associate head of college, and their daughter, during an event announcing his appointment at Berkeley College.
In addition, he serves as director of KCITY (Korea–Center for Industrial Technology–Yale), supporting industry partnerships across Yale Engineering and leading research efforts that include deep-ultraviolet technologies for ultrapure water production in semiconductor manufacturing.
A Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher, Kim has received numerous honors for his scholarship, including the Walter J. Weber, Jr. Frontier in Research Award, the Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize, and the Paul L. Busch Award. He is equally proud of recognition for his teaching and mentorship, including Yale Engineering’s Ackerman Award for Teaching and Mentoring, Lewis noted.
“Over the course of his career, he has mentored many graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, with nearly forty former advisees now holding tenure-track or tenured faculty positions worldwide,” Lewis wrote in his message to the community. “He has also involved many undergraduate students in his research throughout his career.”
Kim brings a wide range of interests to residential college life, the dean added. With early training in art, he enjoys visiting galleries and museums. “He listens to a broad range of music — from his lifelong idol, Metallica, to lunchtime chamber concerts at Morse Recital Hall — and he enjoys playing tennis, table tennis, badminton, basketball, and skiing,” Lewis wrote. “He looks forward to participating in intramurals and being part of the everyday life of the Berkeley College community.”
Joining Kim in Berkeley College will be his wife, Yanghee Kim, who will serve as the associate head of college; their two daughters, Hazel Kim ’25, a former Berkeleyite, and Seorin Kim, a first-year student at Northeastern University who will make frequent visits to Berkeley; and their beloved Chewbacca-colored mini/toy poodle, Chewy.
David Evans, left, the outgoing head of Berkeley College, and Lely Evans, Berkeley’s associate head, with Yale College Dean Pericles Lewis.
In announcing Jaehong Kim’s appointment, Dean Lewis expressed gratitude to David Evans, the outgoing head of Berkeley College, and Lely Evans, Berkeley’s associate head. “Their care for students and their stewardship of the college have left a lasting mark, and I thank them warmly for their dedication,” Lewis wrote.
Lewis also thanked the members of the search advisory committee: Michael Fotos, a lecturer in political science in FAS and director of undergraduate studies for Environmental Studies (EVST) program at Yale College, who chaired the committee; Joseph Wolenski, senior lecturer II in molecular, cellular and developmental biology; Holly Hermes, the university liaison for veteran & military affairs; Sydney Simon, associate curator of academic affairs at the Yale University Art Gallery; and Berkeley College students Abigail Lopez Freire ’26, Jayden Rivera ’26, and Joanne Zhao ’28.
