Gi-Wook Shin reappointed as Center director

Stanford professor Gi-Wook Shin has been reappointed for another term as the director of Stanford's Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC), from July 1, 2016 through Aug. 31, 2019. The announcement was made yesterday in an email.

“I have been blessed with such a wonderful group of faculty, staff and visitors over the years and am truly grateful for your confidence in me and support of my work,” Shin said. “I look forward to continuing to work with all of you in the coming years.”

Shin has since 2005 served as director of Shorenstein APARC, one of six centers within the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI).

“We are extremely grateful for Gi-Wook’s leadership and are looking forward to his continued dedication to Shorenstein APARC and FSI,” FSI Director Michael McFaul said.

A comparative historical and political sociologist, Shin came to Stanford in 2001 to build a program focused on Korean studies. Under his leadership, Shorenstein APARC and the Korea Program have grown into a premiere forum for scholars, government officials and business leaders to convene on the interdisciplinary study of contemporary Asia.

Shin is a critically acclaimed author/editor of more than a dozen books and numerous articles. His recent works include an examination of how South Korea can leverage brain drain in Global Talent: Skilled Labor as Social Capital in Korea and an analysis of how memories of World War II are interpreted in contemporary Asia and Europe in Confronting Memories of World War II: European and Asian Legacies.

Shin will be on sabbatical leave from Oct. 1, 2015, through June 30, 2016. During that time, Takeo Hoshi will serve as the center’s acting director.

Hoshi is a senior fellow in FSI and a professor, by courtesy, of finance at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. He also leads the Japan Program at Shorenstein APARC.

Kathleen Stephens will serve as the acting director of the Korea Program in Shin’s absence. Announced earlier this year, Stephens will join the center in September as the William J. Perry Distinguished Fellow in Korean Studies.