Kwan Ok Lee

Kwan Ok LEE is Associate Professor and Dean's Chair of Urban Planning at the Business School at the National University of Singapore (NUS). She is also the Deputy Head in the NUS Department of Real Estate. She won the NUS Annual Teaching Excellence Award for 2016/2017 as well as the School Teaching Excellence Award for 2015/6, 2016/7, and 2018/9.

Kwan Ok's research has appeared in leading academic journals such as the American Economic Review: Papers & Proceedings, Journal of Urban Economics, Journal of Regional Science and Journal of Law and Economics. Her research interests include housing markets, urban policy analysis, household residential choice, and neighborhood dynamics.

Kwan Ok currently sits on the editorial boards of nine peer-reviewed journals including the Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, International Journal of Urban Sciences, Housing Studies, the Journal of Korea Planning Association, and the Journal of Korea Real Estate Analysis. She is a board member of the Asian Real Estate Society (AsRES) and an AsRES representative to the International Real Estate Society Board. She has also served as an academic expert and commentator for international organizations and government bodies including the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, the Office of Policy Development and Research of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of South Korea.

Prior to joining NUS, Kwan Ok received her PhD in Policy, Planning, and Development from the University of Southern California and Master in Urban Planning from Harvard University.

Recognition & Awards

• NUS Business School Teaching Excellence Award 2020/2021 - 2021
• School Teaching Excellence Award Honour Roll - 2020
• Internationalization Faculty Mobility Scheme (Inbound), Chinese University of Hong Kong - 2020
• Singapore Ministry of Education Academic Research Fund (S$177,460), Pandemic and Cities: Smart Management, Resilience and Adaptation in Seoul and Singapore - 2020
• SDE Teaching Excellence Award (STEA) 2018/2019 - 2019
• SDE Teaching Excellence Award (STEA) 2017/2018 - 2018
• Annual Teaching Excellence Award, 2016/2017 - 2017

Educational Qualifications

• Ph.D., Policy, Planning, and Development, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 2011
• Master, Urban Planning, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA, 2006
• B.A., History of Art, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea, 2001
• B.Sc., Architecture with Magna Cum Laude, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea, 2001

Academic Experience

• Deputy Head, Department of Real Estate, National University of Singapore, 2020 - current
• Associate Professor (with tenure), Department of Real Estate, National University of Singapore, 2018 - current
• Assistant Professor, Department of Real Estate, National University of Singapore, 2011 - 2018