Sung Kyu Kim

Dr. Sung Kyu Kim, professor emeritus of physics, passed away on November 18, 2025. He served as a professor of physics at Macalester from 1965 to 2016—a remarkable fifty-one-year career.

Born and raised in South Korea, Sung Kyu emigrated to the US when he was fifteen and attended high school in South Carolina. His academic excellence earned him a full scholarship to Davidson College, and in 1965 he earned a PhD in theoretical nuclear physics from Duke University. After reading a Time Magazine article about a small private college in St. Paul, he wrote a letter of interest that led him to Macalester College. Thousands of Macalester students experienced his love of physics through his legendary Contemporary Concepts course (affectionately known as “Con-Con”). Sung Kyu was equally passionate about his summer physics institute for pre-med students.

Sung Kyu was a legendary teacher, and many alumni cite his courses among the highlights of their Macalester experience. His superlative teaching was recognized by Macalester with the 1993 Burlington Northern Foundation Faculty Achievement Award (the precursor to the Jack and Marty Rossmann Excellence in Teaching award). He received national recognition for his teaching in the Princeton Review’s Best 300 Professors. Sung Kyu wrote two textbooks: Physics: The Fabric of Reality and Modern Physics for Scientists and Engineers. Throughout the years he collaborated on teaching and textbook projects with prominent physicists, including his good friend David Schram at the University of Chicago.

Sung Kyu Kim was a wonderful colleague, and we will miss his infectious love of physics, his practical wisdom, and his great sense of humor.