What is IGSM?
International Graduate Student Ministry (IGSM) is an official UC Berkeley student group that meets weekly to discuss the tough questions about life and study the Bible together. IGSM began in the fall of 2003 with the aim to “love locally, impact globally,” by helping graduate students from the U.S. and abroad find out the true meaning and purpose of their lives through the gospel of Jesus Christ. We host Bible studies, English classes, grad school survival sessions, worldview lectures, outings to Bay Area landmarks, trips to Yosemite and Disneyland, and much more. Between classes and research, we also hang out together, eat good food, and “do life” together. Many of us also attend church at Gracepoint Berkeley, led by Pastor Ed and Kelly.
Student Council
President: Howard Lei
Vice President: Travis Massey
Secretary: Samantha Lu
Treasurer: Siao Charn Ling
Welcome to IGSM and Berkeley! We are the student council and our jobs are to plan activities, reserve rooms for events, apply for funding from the Graduate Assembly, represent us to the Office of Student Life, and much more. Feel free to contact us for more information!
Alumni Advisors
Chul Kim is our main speaker for Bible study and leads IGSM along with his wife, Sharon. He completed his B.S. degree in microbiology at Seoul National University in 1990 and came to the U.S. as a doctoral student in biophysics at UC Berkeley in 1992, completing his Ph.D. in 1997. You can now find him teaching at California State University East Bay (CSUEB) as an associate professor of chemistry, and with the same passion he holds for science, he teaches and mentors graduate students on the UC Berkeley campus on the topics of Christianity. You can find Sharon working on the West side of UC Berkeley campus. More than a mentor, Sharon is a friend, a guide, and a mother figure to many people as we experience the ups and downs of life. She is also a graduate of UC Berkeley (BA in Economics, 1993) and currently works as a staff for the same campus. Together, they have served in this ministry faithfully since the founding of IGSM in 2003.
Take the time to say hello to their two active children – Michael and Pauline, who love hanging out with graduate students, and join us on many of our fun activities to ice skating rinks, national parks, beach trips, and more!
CHUL KIM
Hometown: Pusan, Korea
Favorite food: Eggplant Tofu
Favorite place to visit in Berkeley: Berkeley Marina
Likes: most animals
Dislikes: cockroaches
[Sign Up for Chul’s Office Hours!]