Princeton University will dedicate a lecture hall to honor South Korea’s first president Syngman Rhee, the university’s Korean alumni association announced on Tuesday.

The group has been raising funds since 2010 to set up a monument for the late president on the campus.

A total of 530 billion won ($461 million) has been collected from its alumni, including LS Group chairman John Koo, also from well-known outiside figures, such as Saenuri Party lawmaker Chung Mong-joon, said Kim Jong-seok, the president of the association.

The alumni agreed with Princeton University to donate the money to name a large lecture hall at the Woodrow Wilson School as “Syngman Rhee 1910 Lecture Hall.”

The hall will also feature a bust of the late president and a plaque with the names of donors, according to Kim.

In 1910, Rhee earned his doctoral degree in International Law from Princeton University, where he was taught by former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. He returned to Korea that year, and in 1948 was elected as the first president of South Korea.

(596story@heraldcorp.com)