The late Professor Emeritus Yoon Shik Park, M.A. ’73, Ph.D. ’76, was a globally renowned cornerstone of the GW Business faculty. Initially arriving on campus to earn a second master’s and doctoral degree, both in economics, he would not leave campus until his retirement more than 40 years later.
A former senior economist at the World Bank and proud Korean American, Yoon served on the board of the Samsung Corporation and the Korean Economic Institute for America, among numerous other prestigious appointments. Yet, despite an influential career advising governments, organizations and corporations, Yoon’s family knew that teaching was his true calling. Heawon Kang Park, the professor’s wife of 52 years, endowed the Yoon Shik Park Assistant or Associate Professorship of International Business days before she passed away in November 2025.
“This professorship creates an enduring legacy of my father’s life mission of preparing students to lead in a complex global economy and advancing understanding of international finance. My parents both believed strongly in giving back through education,” said Dan Park, Yoon and Heawon’s eldest son. “My father saw the classroom as where he made his most lasting impact.”
While Yoon found fulfilling work at the World Bank in the 1970s helping developing nations like South Korea, he eventually found his ultimate passion teaching international banking and finance. The decision was pivotal to both his happiness and the human capital he developed by mentoring hundreds of students who would go on to lead major financial institutions in the U.S. and Korea.
Yoon’s joy in teaching resonates through his written remarks for an acceptance speech for the Korean Economic Institute’s Academic Excellence Award in 2011: “I have sometimes thought it amazing to be paid to read, write, and teach, which I love to do anyway.” He added that if making money was his life’s goal, he could have accepted lucrative offers from Wall Street investment banks, who were keenly interested in his emerging field.
For Dan, his parents’ story reflects the transformative power of education, the immigrant experience and the enduring impact of teaching, mentorship and a global perspective. The benefits of education to Yoon were life-changing, not abstract.
Born into a humble farming community in rural Korea, Yoon, alone, boarded a train bound for Seoul before his high school years. Determined to pursue better opportunities, the young teen navigated the hardships of living there in the difficult years following the Korean War. Food was scarce, and he sold newspapers and polished shoes while living in a tent city. Yet, he was able to gain entry to prestigious academic programs through merit scholarships, tutoring others to cover his room and board.
Yoon and Heawon met at Kyung Hee University in Korea, where he earned the first of his five degrees. Yoon left for graduate school in the U.S. intent on returning to teach college and help his homeland prosper economically. However, the political situation on the Korean peninsula was untenable at the time. While Yoon and Heawon made the U.S. their permanent home, Yoon was a prolific researcher and writer on South Korea’s economy who helped steer his home country’s economic interests throughout his long career.
Heawon, the first in her family to graduate from college, immigrated to the U.S. to marry Yoon, speaking limited English, but strong, determined and unfailingly optimistic. A homemaker while raising their three children, her entrepreneurial success later as a real estate investor ultimately made this generous gift possible, her son said.
Yoon’s academic focus was international finance as a force for economic development that would “equalize the scales,” Dan noted. Students and colleagues say the professor was a deeply humble man who rarely spoke of his accomplishments and took a personal interest in everyone around him.
“Dr. Park was more often than not the smartest guy in the room, but he kept that to himself,” said former student William Arzt, M.B.A. ‘82. “He was a visionary who led by example to create a more just world, one that would perpetuate equality and access. Correcting injustice, balancing the scales, evaluating the distribution of power and creating equity was his life’s work. He was a great teacher—accessible, supportive and incredibly helpful.”
Jennifer Windus, M.B.A. ’90, met Yoon as a graduate student and later became the Park family’s neighbor. “I knew him for years before I learned that his trips to Korea were to attend board meetings at Samsung,” said Windus. “He was my favorite professor and inspired me to start a career in international finance. I recall that while lecturing on complex topics, he kept a sense of humor and seemed to have a lot of analogies about beer.”
A former student, then colleague, Scheherazade Rehman, B.B.A. ’85, M.B.A. ’89, Ph.D. ’92, credits Park as the major influence on her decision to become a professor. Rehman is now a professor of international finance and international affairs at GW.
“He always had time, respect and a smile for anyone who knocked on his door, always reminding them that no matter the problem, they should be grateful for all that has gone right, solutions are at hand, and how lucky they are rather than focus on the negative,” Rehman said. “I will always remember him as the mentor who changed my life’s course for the better.”
GW Business Dean Sevin Yeltekin expressed the school’s profound gratitude. “Heawon Park’s generous and visionary gift ensures that Yoon Shik Park’s lifelong commitment to teaching and international business scholarship will endure,” she said. “This endowed professorship honors his legacy while providing support that enables GWSB faculty to thrive, just as he did throughout his distinguished career.”
Anyone interested in supporting the Yoon Shik Park Assistant or Associate Professorship of International Business is invited to make an online donation.