Byongjin Ahn joined the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC) as a visiting scholar for the 2025 fall quarter. He recently served at the State Affairs Planning Committee (equivalent to the transition team as President Lee had to assume his post immediately after his election in June).

He is currently a professor at Kyung Hee University's Global Academy for Future Civilizations. He has served as the Rector of the Global Academy for the Future of Civilizations at Kyung Hee University, Vice President of Kyung Hee Cyber University, Assistant Professor of International Relations at Changwon National University, and Lecturer at the City University of New York. Born in Daegu (1967), he earned a B.A. in sociology from Sogang University and an M.A. in political science from Seoul National University. He earned his Ph.D. in American politics from the New School for Social Research, founded by John Dewey. For his dissertation, he was awarded the Hannah Arendt Award.

His main specialty is the U.S. presidency and Korean politics, and he has appeared on numerous television programs and newspapers, including a panel on the U.S. presidential election specials on MBC and SBS and an interview with the New York Times. He has been a regular columnist for the JoongAng Ilbo, Kyunghyang Shinmun, and Hankyoreh, and a guest commentator for KBS. He is a co-author of South Korea's Democracy In Crisis: The Threats of Illiberalism, Populism, and Polarization (Gi-Wook Shin and Ho-Ki Kim Eds, Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, 2022) and many other books and articles. 

Major: Economics & Political Science
Minor: Mathematics
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts & Oxford, UK
Thesis Advisor: Larry Diamond & Javier Mejia

Tentative Thesis Title: Toward a Theory of the Evolution of the Global Political Economy: Varieties of Democracy, Development and Law

Future aspirations post-Stanford: I would like to undertake a joint JD/PhD in political economy and to work in the academy, public, and private sectors.

A fun fact about yourself: I was the youngest person in UK history to litigate on behalf of the disabled in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Employment Tribunal, where I cross-examined a dozen senior leaders of a $500 million organization in a 40-day trial for an ongoing four-year, multi-million dollar lawsuit, in which I have been acting on a pro bono basis.

Major: Public Policy and Data Science & Social Systems
Minor: Jewish Studies
Hometown: Mercer Island, Washington 
Thesis Advisor: Hakeem Jefferson

Tentative Thesis Title: The Impact of Electoral Systems on Political Representation

Future aspirations post-Stanford: After Stanford, I'm planning on pursuing a Ph.D. in the social sciences.

A fun fact about yourself: I play the French Horn in the Stanford Wind Symphony!

Major: International Relations
Minor: European Studies
Hometown: Palo Alto, California
Thesis Advisor: Anna Grzymała-Busse

Tentative Thesis Title: A Pact to Forget and the Fight to Remember: The Shifting Landscape of Democratic Memory Politics in Spain

Future aspirations post-Stanford: I look forward to returning to Europe to continue my study of politics and international affairs by pursuing a master’s degree. I may then pursue a PhD or begin a career in public policy.

A fun fact about yourself: I dance with XTRM, Stanford’s K-Pop dance team!

Major: Economics
Minor: Human Rights
Hometown: Karachi, Pakistan
Thesis Advisor: Mona Tajali

Tentative Thesis Title: From Dhabas to Mosques to Walls: A Cross Comparative Analysis of Women’s Campaigns for the Right to Public Spaces in Muslim-Majority Countries

Ricky is a Social Science Research Professional at the Deliberative Democracy Lab, where he helps generate insights from Deliberative Polling events around the world. He studied Public Policy at Duke University and is interested in policy related to human development — democracy, economic security, and social welfare. His current work involves data preparation and workflow automation.

Hanna Folsz is a PhD candidate in Political Science at Stanford University. Her research focuses on opposition parties in authoritarian dominant-party regimes, with a particular focus on the challenges and opportunities they face in countering autocratization. More broadly, her work examines the causes and consequences of democratic backsliding, populism, media capture, and political favoritism — primarily in East-Central Europe and, secondarily, in Latin America. She uses a multi-method approach, including modern causal inference and text analysis techniques.

Her research has been supported by the National Science Foundation and the American Political Science Association, among others. She is the co-founder and co-organizer of EEPGW, a monthly online graduate student workshop on East European politics, and a co-founder and regular contributor to The Hungarian Observer, the most widely read online newsletter on Hungarian politics and culture. At Stanford, she is an active member of  CDDRL's Poverty, Violence, and Governance Lab (PovGov).

Oren Samet is the Einstein Moos Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford’s Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (2025-26) and will be an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Rice University beginning in 2026.

His research centers on the international dimensions of authoritarian politics and democratization, with a particular emphasis on opposition politics and a regional focus on Southeast Asia. His book project examines the success and strategies of opposition parties, focusing on the international activities of these actors in authoritarian contexts. Other work focuses on opposition competition in authoritarian elections, processes of autocratization, and contemporary challenges of international democracy promotion and governance aid. His academic work has been published in the American Journal of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies, and Political Communication, and his other writing has been published in outlets including Foreign Policy, Slate, and World Politics Review.

Before entering academia, Oren was based in Bangkok, Thailand, where he served as the Research and Advocacy Director of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights, working with politicians and civil society leaders across Southeast Asia. He previously worked as a Junior Fellow in the Democracy and Rule of Law Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.A. from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs.