By Ian Werther in News — 19 Mar 2026

Samsung Display President Lee Cheong Named SID Fellow for Foldable OLED Leadership

Samsung Display said on Friday that Lee Cheong, its president, has been named a Fellow of the Society for Information Display (SID), the world’s premier professional society for display technology. Fellows are selected once a year from SID’s membership, with the number of new fellows capped at 0.1% of total members.

SID credited Lee Cheong for leading the development of the world’s first foldable display and for driving innovations across OLED technology, as well as advancing energy efficiency and sustainability within the display ecosystem.

Greater flamingos courtship display in the Camargue during mating season.
During the mating season, Greater flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus) express the following courtship display:

Turning head left and right every 1 to 2 seconds while singing (mostly with closed beak) and staying static
Walking all together as a group in the same direction while turning head left and right every 1 to 2 seconds while singing (mostly with closed beak)
Doing a courbette
Pointing head to the sky and spreading wings
Rinsing the foot in water and then scratch the head with it
Kissing — Representative image for context; not directly related to the specific event in this article. License: CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Lee Cheong joined Samsung in 1992 and earned a PhD in chemical engineering from POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology). He rose to the position of panel development executive in 2012 and contributed to the Galaxy S series and to the development of flexible OLEDs. Samsung Display laid the groundwork for the first mass production of foldable OLED in 2019 under leaders like him.

In his later roles, he led the Small and Medium Display Division’s Module Center (2020), served as head of the development office (2021), and became head of the Small/Mid Display Division in 2023, focusing on improving the durability and technical maturity of foldable OLEDs.

Lee Cheong also led the development of LEAD, Samsung Display’s polarizer-free technology rolled out in 2021. LEAD embeds a pixel-level function to suppress external light reflections, improving light efficiency, boosting brightness, reducing power consumption, and enabling thinner device designs.

Separately, Samsung Display’s chief technology officer, Lee Chang-hee, received SID’s Jan Rajchman Award, a personal honor recognizing outstanding academic achievement and breakthrough work in display technology. The award cited his contributions to OLED, quantum dot, and nanoLED-based display innovations.

Why this matters beyond Korea for U.S. readers: Samsung Display remains a central force in advanced OLED and foldable display technology, shaping global supply chains for smartphones, tablets, and laptops used by American consumers and companies. Continued innovation in energy efficiency, panel durability, and thin, flexible form factors affects device design, battery life, and costs for U.S.-based manufacturers and buyers. The recognition of Samsung Display leaders highlights Korea’s role in maintaining American access to cutting-edge display tech and maintaining competitive pressure in a rapidly evolving global market.

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