Known
as “Mr. Oil,”
Dr. Dong-Soo Hur
is the chairman of
the board of GS
Caltex Corporation,
the oldest private
oil company in the
Republic of Korea,
and a leading force
in the Korean energy
industry.
He
received a
bachelor’s degree in
chemical engineering
from Yonsei
University (Korea)
and a master’s
degree and Ph.D. in
chemical engineering
from the University
of Wisconsin (USA).
Dr. Hur’s
distinguished career
in the oil industry
began with Chevron’s
Research engineer,
which he joined in
1971.
In
1973, he returned to
Korea and joined
Honam Oil, the
predecessor to GS
Caltex. In 1994, he
became the President
& CEO of GS Caltex
Corporation, to
become in 1998, Vice
Chairman & CEO and
in 2003, Chairman &
CEO of GS Caltex
Corporation. In
2013, he became the
Chairman of GS
Caltex Corporation &
GS Energy
Corporation.
Since joining the
company, He has
directed business
diversification and
large-scale facility
investment
strategies that have
led GS Caltex to
become a world-class
company.
During the oil
crisis in the 1980s,
GS Caltex became the
first Korean company
to export petroleum
products by
processing crude
oil, or tolling. As
a result, GS Caltex
received the $200
million Export Tower
Award in 1983. Since
then, GS Caltex has
grown into one of
the leading export
companies in Korea,
becoming the second
company in Korea and
the first company in
the refining
business to receive
the $25 billion
Export Tower Award
in 2012.
In
addition, GS Caltex
supplies more than
30percent of
petroleum product
demand in Korea and
operates one of the
world’s largest
aromatics plant and
the world’s fourth
largest refinery at
a single site.
In the early
2000s, he initiated
GS Caltex’s
diversification into
the green growth,
gas and power, and
upstream businesses
and founded GS
Energy in 2012 to
specialize in these
businesses.
Dr. Hur is also the
Chairman of the
Korea Business
Council for
Sustainable
Development (since
2002) and serves as
the Chairman of the
Community Chest of
Korea (since 2014).
In 2005, he
received South
Korea’s highest
civilian honor, the
Order of Civil Merit
Mugunghwa Medal. His
other honors include
the Industrial
Service Medal(1985);
the Order of
Industrial Service
Merit(bronze in
1995, gold in 2000);
the Korean Resource
Economics
Association Award
for Energy
Entrepreneurs(2003)
and the Order of
Culture Merit,
Geumgwan (2012).
Outside of work,
he has promoted the
play of Baduk, a
board game similar
to the game of
chess, and he was
elected the chairman
of the Korea Baduk
Association
(2001~2013) and the
Korea Amateur Baduk
Association
(2013~2014).
Dr. Hur is also
deeply dedicated to
improving education
within the community
as a board member of
KAIST (Korea
Advanced Institute
of Science and
Technology,
2011~2014), Yonsei
University (since
2013) and the
University of
Wisconsin Foundation
(since 2013).
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