Dr. Sohn is a Professor of Finance and Economics at Loyola-Marymount University. He is also president of SS Economics, an economic consulting firm focused on the U.S. economy, international trade in the pacific-rim and technology including AI. Dr. Sohn was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Hanmi Financial Corporation, a commercial bank in Los Angeles, California. Before joining Hanmi in 2005, Dr. Sohn was an Executive Vice President and Chief Economic Officer at Wells Fargo Banks. He was also Vice Chairman of the Board at retailer Forever 21. Dr. Sohn also serves as Vice President and Commissioner for LACERS (Los Angeles City Employee Retirement System) and Chair of the Investment Committee, managing $18 billion in assets. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Western Alliance Bancorporation, and National Association of Corporate Directors PSW. Dr. Sohn is an internationally-known economist.
Dr. Sohn was Martin V. Smith Professor of Economics at California State University CI and director of Institute for Global Economic Research (IGER) forecasting economic and investment conditions in the Pacific-rim countries.
Prior to Wells Fargo, Dr. Sohn was a Senior Economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisors in The White House. He was responsible for economic and legislative matters pertaining to The Federal Reserve and financial markets. Dr. Sohn has also been a tenured professor in the Pennsylvania State University System.
In 2001, Bloomberg News selected Dr. Sohn was one of the five most accurate forecasters in the United States. In 2002, Blue Chip Publications picked him as the most accurate forecaster for the Western States, and he was named to Time Magazine’s Board of Economists. In 2006, The Wall Street Journal featured a story naming Dr. Sohn as the most accurate economist in the United States. This is one of the most prestigious honors in the economics profession.
Dr. Sohn was chosen as one of the 100 most influential Minnesotans of the 20th century by the state’s largest daily newspaper, The Star Tribune. Others on the list included Charles Lindberg, Sinclair Lewis, Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale and Charles Schultz of Peanuts.
Dr. Sohn was a Commissioner of the Port of Los Angeles, the nation’s largest seaport. He has served on the boards of Hanmi Financial Corporation, First California Bancorporation, Cryo Cell International, Ministers Mutual Life Insurance Company, LA Music Center (Performing Arts), Children’s Bureau of Los Angeles, Foreign Affairs Council of LA, Park Nicollet Health Services, The Blake School, Minnesota Community College System, North Memorial Medical Center, Harvard Business School Association of Minnesota, Crystal Evangelical Free Church, Children’s Theater Company, and the American Heart Association of Minnesota and Girl Scouts of Minnesota.
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He is the author of two books: Global Financial Crisis and Exit Strategy (2009) and The New Economy (2014).
Dr. Sohn was educated at the University of Pittsburgh, Harvard Business School and MIT.