Welcome! I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). From fall 2025 to 2027, I will be a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Program on American Institutional Repair (PAIR) at Purdue University.

I study the role of early donors in candidate emergence and congressional lawmaking. My dissertation examines the influence of seed donors—those who contribute to legislators’ first successful open-seat primaries—on Members of Congress’ legislative behavior, with a focus on committee assignments and hearing speeches. Using supervised and semi-supervised text analysis methods, along with validation from an AI assistant, I find that legislators engage more actively in seed donor–related lawmaking activities.

My research has been generously supported by the Pauley Foundation and the Institute for Humane Studies. At UCLA, I received the Graduate Dean’s Scholar Award and the Dissertation Year Award. Prior to UCLA, I earned a B.A. in Political Science and a B.A. in Applied Statistics from Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea.

Here is how to pronounce my name: AH (sound you make at the dentist) - young (as opposed to old).