Sung Won Sohn

Current Term: 07/01/2021 – 06/30/2026
Benefits Administration Committee; Governance Committee

Sung Won Sohn was reappointed to the Board by Mayor Eric Garcetti for the term ending June 30, 2026. He was originally appointed by Mayor Garcetti on November 18, 2015.

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 Economist at Wells Fargo Banks.  He was also Vice Chairman of the Board at a retailer Forever 21. Dr. Sohn also serves as a Commissioner for LACERS (Los Angeles City Employee Retirement System) which manages $22 billion in assets.  He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Western Alliance Bancorporation, and National Association of Corporate Directors PSW Emeritus. He is a trustee emeritus at Claremont Graduate University. Dr. Sohn is an internationally-known economist.

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 Pennsylvania State University System and MVS professor at the California State University System.

Dr. Sohn is on Wall Street Journal’s Board of economists. In 2001, Bloomberg News selected Dr. Sohn as 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 in Minneapolis, 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.

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 Florida, the University of Pittsburgh, Harvard Business School, Harvard Kennedy School and MIT.