Welcome! My name is Ayoung Chun. I am a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Program on American Institutional Renewal (PAIR) at Purdue University. In June 2025, I completed my Ph.D. in the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). My research examines American political institutions, particularly Congress, and the influence of campaign donors on legislative behavior. Methodologically, I employ text-as-data techniques, network analysis, and machine learning to link money in politics to patterns of lawmaking.

I study the role of early donors in candidate emergence and congressional lawmaking. My book project 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.

I can teach courses in American Politics, Money in Politics, Quantitative Methods, and Critical Data Theory. At UCLA, I was lead instructor or TA for a combined 16 quarters, for both undergraduate and graduate courses.

I am on the 2025-2026 academic job market.

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