Mun Choi


Mun Young Choi is an American academic, Chancellor of the University of Missouri, and current President of the University of Missouri System. Prior to his appointment at Missouri he was Provost & Executive Vice President at the University of Connecticut.. He has also taught at Drexel University and the University of Illinois at Chicago. He lives in Columbia, Missouri.

Early life and education

Choi immigrated to the United States with his parents from South Korea in 1973. He graduated from Stephen Tyng Mather High School, in Chicago and holds a Ph.D. and M.A. degrees in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University and a BS degree in General Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.

University of Missouri

In 2017 Choi became President of the four campus University of Missouri System. In March, 2020 Choi agreed to serve as interim Chancellor of the University of Missouri flagship campus in Columbia. This position was made permanent on July 28, making Choi the first to be both Chancellor of the University of Missouri in Columbia and President of the University of Missouri System simultaneously.
In the spring of 2020, students at MU petitioned Choi to remove a bronze statue of Thomas Jefferson from the University of Missouri's Francis Quadrangle. Choi refused, declaring his decision final and "in the best interest of the university." The statue, which was purchased and installed by MU alumni in 2001, would instead be "recontextualized" with input from a task force, Choi said.