Young Woo Kang

Who is Young Woo Kang?

Young Woo Kang was a disability rights advocate, author, and speaker. He is known for his work in developing a braille alphabet for the Korean language. He is the current Vice Chair of the World Committee on Disability. Kang is a former policy advisor of the National Council on Disability to the United States White House, serving under former president George W. Bush. In 2001, Kang received the Asian American Society's Outstanding Contribution and Achievement Award.

Kang is the former dean of South Korea's Taegu University, Supervisor of Special Education in Indiana, and is currently an adjunct professor at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago.

In 1995, Kang's autobiography was made into a television and motion picture movie entitled, Bicheun nae gaseume. The film dramatized Kang's life as the first visually impaired Korean man to earn a Ph.D. In addition to film, the autobiography has been translated into seven languages and is a U.S. Library of Congress talking book. The film was honored with the Korean equivalent of the Emmy Award for the best drama in television.