) is the Dean of the College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

University of Virginia College of Arts & Sciences

The University of Virginia College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is the largest of the University of Virginia's ten schools. Consisting of both a graduate and an undergraduate program, the College comprises the liberal arts and humanities section of the University...

 at the University of Virginia

University of Virginia

The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...

. She began her post on June 1, 2008.

Woo was formerly Professor of Political Science

Political science

Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...

 and Korea Foundation

Korea Foundation

The Korea Foundation was established in 1991 by the South Korean National Assembly with the aim to enhance the image of Korea in the world and also to promote academic and cultural exchange programs. It is an independent organization affiliated with the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs...

 Professor of Korean Studies

Korean Studies

Korean Studies can refer to:* Korean studies, the academic study of Korea* Korean Studies , an academic journal published by the University of Hawaii...

 at the University of Michigan

University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

, Ann Arbor. Her teaching and research interests include international political economy

International political economy

International political economy , also known as global political economy, is an academic discipline within the social sciences that analyzes international relations in combination with political economy. As an interdisciplinary field it draws on many distinct academic schools, most notably ...

, economic development

Economic development

Economic development generally refers to the sustained, concerted actions of policymakers and communities that promote the standard of living and economic health of a specific area...

, East Asian politics, and U.S.-East Asian relations. She was named as Associate Dean for the Social Sciences of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

The University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts is the liberal arts and sciences unit of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Established in 1841 with seven students and two teachers, the college is currently the largest unit at U-M in terms of the number of students...

 at the University in May 2007 for a three-year term beginning July 1, 2007. She has been Director of the Korean Studies Program, and served on the executive committee of the Department of Political Science and the steering committees of the Program in Organizational Studies and the International Institute. She also served a three-year term on the College’s Social Science Divisional Committee.

She has authored and edited seven books, published mostly under the name Meredith Woo-Cumings. They include Race to the Swift: State and Finance in Korean Industrialization (Columbia University Press, 1991), which was published under the name Jung-en Woo; Past as Prelude: History in the Making of the New World Order (Westview Press, 1991); Capital Ungoverned: Liberalizing Finance in Interventionist States (Cornell University Press, 1996), The Developmental State (Cornell University Press, 1999), as well as the co-authored report of the Presidential Report, Building American Prosperity in the 21st Century: Report of the Presidential Commission on United States-Pacific Trade and Investment Policy (Government Printing Office, 1997). Her latest book, Neoliberalism and Reform in East Asia, published September 2007, was the result of a project sponsored by the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development and the Rockefeller Foundation.

She is currently finishing two manuscripts. One is entitled Three Worlds of East Asian Capitalism, about historical evolution of capitalism in Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

 and China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

; the other is entitled The Ruins of Modernity, about the economic catastrophe in North Korea

North Korea

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...

.

Professor Woo was born and raised in Seoul

Seoul

Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...

, Korea

Korea

Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

, and attended an international high school in Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. She came to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in 1976, and graduated magna cum laude from Bowdoin College

Bowdoin College

Bowdoin College , founded in 1794, is an elite private liberal arts college located in the coastal Maine town of Brunswick, Maine. As of 2011, U.S. News and World Report ranks Bowdoin 6th among liberal arts colleges in the United States. At times, it was ranked as high as 4th in the country. It is...

, majoring in English literature

English literature

English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....

 and history

History

History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

 (1980). She has received an M.A. in international affairs (1982), and Latin American studies (1984), and a Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

 (1988). Her dissertation was awarded the university's highest distinction. She is married to Korean historian Bruce Cumings

Bruce Cumings

Bruce Cumings is the Gustavus F. and Ann M. Swift Distinguished Service Professor in History at the University of Chicago and the chairperson of the history department...

 of the University of Chicago

University of Chicago

The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...

 and is the sister-in-law of South Korean ambassador to the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, Yoon-Je Cho.

Before joining the University of Michigan in 2001, she taught at Northwestern University

Northwestern University

Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

 (1989–2000), as well as Colgate University

Colgate University

Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York, USA. The school was founded in 1819 as a Baptist seminary and later became non-denominational. It is named for the Colgate family who greatly contributed to the university's endowment in the 19th century.Colgate has 52...

 and Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

. In 1996 she was appointed by President Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

 to serve on the Presidential Commission on U.S.-Pacific Trade and Investment Policy. She has consulted for the World Bank

World Bank

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...

, the United States Trade Representative, Social Science Research Council

Social Science Research Council

The Social Science Research Council is a U.S.-based independent nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing research in the social sciences and related disciplines...

, Asian Development Bank

Asian Development Bank

The Asian Development Bank is a regional development bank established on 22 August 1966 to facilitate economic development of countries in Asia...

 Institute, United Nations Research Institute for Social Development

United Nations Research Institute For Social Development

The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development is "an autonomous United Nations agency that carries out research on the social dimensions of contemporary problems affecting development"...

, the Asia Foundation

Asia Foundation

The Asia Foundation is a non-profit, non-governmental organization professing a commitment to "development of a peaceful, prosperous, just, and open Asia-Pacific region." The Foundation supports Asian initiatives to improve governance, law, and civil society; women’s empowerment; economic reform...

, and the MacArthur Foundation

MacArthur Foundation

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is one of the largest private foundations in the United States. Based in Chicago but supporting non-profit organizations that work in 60 countries, MacArthur has awarded more than US$4 billion since its inception in 1978...

. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Japan Policy Research Institute

Japan Policy Research Institute

The Japan Policy Research Institute is a non-profit organization organized under section 501 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code that was founded in 1994 by Chalmers Johnson and Steven C...

, Santa Monica, CA, and the editorial board of the Journal of East Asian Politics. She additionally serves as an occasional guest expert on Korean politics for such media outlets as PBS, CNN

CNN

Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...

, and The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

.

Works

• Race to the Swift: State and Finance in Korean Industrialization Columbia University Press, 1991.
• Past as Prelude: History in the Making of the New World Order Westview Press, 1991.
• Capital Ungoverned: Liberalizing Finance in Interventionist States Cornell University Press, 1996.
• The Developmental State Cornell University Press, 1999.
• Neoliberalism and Institutional Reform in East Asia Palgrave, 2007.
• What Does North Korea Want? op-ed in The New York Times
  The New York Times
  The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
  
   published 7 July 2006, co-authored with Bruce Cumings
  Bruce Cumings
  Bruce Cumings is the Gustavus F. and Ann M. Swift Distinguished Service Professor in History at the University of Chicago and the chairperson of the history department...