David Steel, the first foreign national who became an executive at Samsung Electronics in 2002, will come back to Seoul and join the global public relations team following his recent promotion as executive vice president, the tech giant said.

In the 2014 executive reshuffle at the group level, Steel became the third foreign executive vice president, following Tim Baxter and Wang Tong, who were promoted to the same rank in 2012 and 2013 respectively. 

Some market watchers expect Steel, in his new role, will bring a breath of fresh air into Samsung’s global communications in Seoul, which has been reactive in responding to global communication-related issues.

Steel, who started his career at Samsung in 1999, took a wide range of posts, including the marketing team leader of the tech giant’s digital media business and the marketing strategy head of the mobile communications division, during his 10-year stay in Korea.

In 2008, he was named as senior vice president of Samsung’s North American headquarters with responsibility for corporate marketing and strategy.

Receiving credit for improving relations with partners and reinforcing the brand image of Samsung in the North American market, Steel was promoted to the executive vice president this year, the company said.

Steel earned a Ph.D. in Physics from MIT, an MBA from the University of Chicago, and a BA in Physics from Oxford University.

Prior to joining Samsung, he worked at McKinsey & Co. and Argonne National Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)