Taeghwan Hyeon received B.S. (1987) & M.S. (1989) degrees from Seoul National University, and Ph.D. degree (1996) from University of Illinois, all in Chemistry Department. He is a SNU Distinguished Professor at Seoul National University (SNU, ChemEng), and the Director of Center for Nanoparticle Research of the Institute for Basic Science (IBS).

He is recognized for his outstanding contributions in scalable synthesis of uniform-sized nanoparticles, and pioneering research in the designed synthesis of inorganic nanomaterials for biomedical, energy, and soft-electronic-device applications. He has published > 520 papers in prominent journals, which have been cited > 130,000 times with h-index of > 180 (Google Scholar).

He was listed in Top 100 Chemists in 2011, Highly Cited Researcher (2014 ~ 25), and chosen as 2020 Citation Laureate in Chemistry along with 2023 Nobel Chemistry Laureate, Moungi Bawendi. He received four major Korean Science & Technology awards, including 2022 Grand Prize of National Academy of Engineering of Korea, 2016 Presidential Best Scientist Award, 2012 Samsung Hoam Prize, and 2008 POSCO-T.J. Park Award. He also received 2016 IUVSTA Prize at International Vacuum Congress, and delivered Kavli Foundation Frontiers of Materials Research Lecture during 2023 Spring MRS meeting. In 2025, he received the Sheth International Alumni Award from U. Illinois.

He is an elected Fellow/Member of Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAST), National Academy of Engineering of Korea (NAEK), US National Academy of Engineering (NAE), Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA), Royal Society of Chemistry, and Materials Research Society. From 2010 to 2020, he served as Associate Editor of Journal of the American Chemical Society. He is now serving as an Associate Editor of ACS Nano.