Dong Soo Hur: GS Caltex Chairman

Getting to the top position in a company takes a lot of hard work. It does not come overnight. Working hard in the office is the main reason why people move ahead in the corporate world, having a good education also helps. Dong Soo Hur the chairman of GS Caltex can attest to that.

Hur who grew up in Seoul, South Korea obtained his bachelor’s degree at Yonsei University. He didn’t stop his education there. He went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to earn a Master of Science in 1968 and a PhD in 1971 in Chemical Engineering. The University of Wisconsin was considered one of the best schools in chemical engineering at that time. Hur also believed chemical engineering would be a critical factor in the development of the Korean economy.

After graduating Hur became only the fourth Korean to earn a doctorate in chemical engineering at the University of Wisconsin. He then began his career as a research engineer with Chevron Corporation. Hur returned to Korea in 1973 and worked for Honam Oil, this was the predecessor of GS Caltex.

He began his climb up the corporate ladder. Hur became the vice president in 1978 and became president in 1991. He shepherded the company through the Asian oil crisis in the 1980s and the 1990s. Hur started the groundwork for exporting gasoline to Japan and the United States.

GS Caltex began producing 60,000 barrels a day when it started commercial operations in 1969. Today it has crude oil refining facilities with a capacity of 775,000 barrels a day and is the third largest single-site oil refinery in the world. GS Caltex is the oldest private oil company in Korea and supplies over 30 percent of the petroleum products demand in Korea. It also operates the world’s largest aromatic plant.

When not at work Hur promotes the game of Baduk, a board game similar to the Japanese game Go. He was elected head of Korea’s Baduk Association and its Amateur Baduk Association.