Premiere Speakers Bureau

Dr. Sohn is a professor of economics and finance at California State University and he is also the Vice Chairman of Forever 21, a retail chain with sales approaching $2 billion.

He was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Hanmi Financial Corporation, a commercial bank in Los Angeles, California, with $4 billion in assets. Before joining Hanmi in 2005, Dr. Sohn was an Executive Vice President and Chief Economic Officer of Wells Fargo Banks.

Dr. Sohn was educated at the University of Pittsburgh and Harvard Business School.

Prior to his tenure at 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 college professor in Pennsylvania State University System.

In 2007, the local Chamber of Commerce recognized him as “The Executive of the Year”. In the commendation, it said, “Dr. Sung Won Sohn’s outstanding management and leadership skills have set exemplary standards for the community.”

In 2006, The Wall Street Journal featured a story naming Dr. Sohn as the most accurate economist in the United States. This is the most prestigious honor in economics profession. In 2002, he was named to the Time Magazine'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

He 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 the Peanuts Cartoon.

He currently serves on the boards of L.A. Music Center, Children’s Bureau, California Bankers Association and Claremont graduate University.

He has served on the boards of Ministers Mutual Life Insurance Company, Park Nicollet Health Services, The Blake School, the American Refugee Committee, the Bethel University Foundation, Minnesota Wellspring, Minnesota Community College System, North Memorial Medical Center, Harvard Business School Association, Crystal Evangelical Free Church, Children's Theater Company and School, Minnesota State Council on Economic Education, Girl Scouts and the American Heart Association.