University Trustee Youngsuk “Y.S.” Chi, the son of a Korean diplomatic family, grew up “all over the world.” He applauds Princeton’s support of international students, and adds his own special welcome: He and his wife, Sungeun Kim Chi, invite every international freshman to share a meal with them in Princeton. “The attention of the Princeton faculty and staff when I was a student made a great difference to me,” says Chi. “I’m glad to be able to pay some of that back.”

Many alumni reflect fondly upon their years at Princeton, Chi says, but, to him, “My experience as an alumnus is as important as my undergraduate experience—in fact, my post-Princeton years are perhaps even more meaningful to me.” The students, alumni, faculty members, and administrators he has met through his volunteer activities, he says, “have enhanced and reinforced my Princeton education.”

An economics major at Princeton, Chi earned an MBA at Columbia University. After years in international finance, he entered publishing, notably with Random House, where he was president, then appointed chair of Random House Asia. He is now vice chair and managing director of academic and customer relations at Elsevier, a global publisher of scientific, technical, and medical information.

Wherever in the world his work has taken him, he has continued to serve the University. Now Schools Committee Chair for the Princeton Area Alumni Association, he has also chaired alumni schools committees in points as distant, and disparate, as Singapore, Belgium, Korea, and Tennessee. A longtime major gifts solicitor, Chi has many alumni activities to his credit: the Committee to Nominate Alumni Trustees, the Council of the Princeton University Community, and the Asian American Alumni Association. He has even donned a DaVinci hat as P-rade marshal.

Other board memberships include the Princeton University Press, the Korean American Community Foundation, and the Association of American Publishers.

Always a dedicated Princetonian, Chi now has a special connection to the University: his daughter Eunjeong, known as E.J., is a member of the Class of 2011. Another daughter is a junior at the Lawrenceville School.