Michael Chung is the CEO of CIG Education Group, a division of CIG, which currently consists of BrandEd Holdings (BrandEd) and Bach To Rock. He is also an Operating Partner with CIG. He founded BrandEd in 2016, which includes The School of The New York Times, Sotheby’s Institute of Art, City Football Leadership Institute and Condé Nast College of Fashion and Design. During his tenure at CIG, he served as the interim CEO and Board member at Navtech, an aviation software business, and led the turnaround of the company which was acquired in 2016 by Airbus. He also served on the Board of Directors at ProQuest from 2008 to 2013.
Michael came to CIG from Barr Associates, Inc. (Barr), the largest independent manufacturer of advanced optical filters, where he served as Chief Operating Officer. Barr was a client of Michael during his tenure at Goldman Sachs. Michael successfully led the execution of the turnaround of Barr from near bankruptcy to a profitable and growing company and subsequently helped execute the sale of Barr to Materion Corporation.
Prior to joining Barr, Michael spent seven years at Goldman Sachs, most recently as Vice President in the Mergers and Acquisitions Department focusing on the communications technology sector. Over his tenure at Goldman Sachs, Michael worked on numerous M&A and private equity investment transactions across a wide range of industries including information services, telecommunications, high technology, biotech and energy.
Michael was born in Korea and from the age of 9, grew up in Manila, Philippines. After graduating from the International School of Manila, Michael enrolled in the Management and Technology Dual Bachelor’s Degree Program at the University of Pennsylvania where he earned a B.S. in Economics from The Wharton School and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the School of Engineering. Michael holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. He currently serves on the Board of Directors at the Korean American Community Foundation and Advancement for Rural Kids, a nonprofit focused on addressing the hunger crisis in The Philippines. Michael and his wife Hannah live in New York City with their two sons.
