As part of International Education Month, Public Administration and Policy is celebrating some of our outstanding international students. Meet Ju Won Park.

Ju Won is currently in his second year of PhD program here in the Department of Public Administration and Policy. He received his Masters of Public Administration from Yonsei University in Korea. He specializes in public personnel administration, organizational behavior, and performance management. Above all, he is deeply interested in understanding the roles of managerial practices in shaping the attitudes of public employees and the performance of their organizations. His work has been presented at international conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals. His current research interests include employee performance appraisal, employee empowerment, workforce diversity, employee motivation, and ethical behavior.

Prior to attending UGA, Ju Won worked at Mercer, which was ranked America’s best human resources consulting firm. This is where he learned how to apply the principles and lessons of management to real life. As part of a team, he designed a new organization structure and HR systems for one of Korea’s largest travel firms. He diagnosed the optimal organizational size and suggested critical success factors when operating performance-related pay systems. His awareness of the gap between theory and practice transformed into an interest in management research and a desire to become a professor who provides practical theory-building strategies to managerial practitioners.

Outside of the PhD program, Ju Won enjoys travel, hiking, and spending time with his wife, HeeJin. His wife and his family are the driving force of his life.