Gi-Wook Shin is the William J. Perry professor of contemporary Korea in sociology, the director of the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, the founding director of Korea Program, and a senior fellow of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, all at Stanford University.
As a historical-comparative and political sociologist, his research has concentrated on social movements, nationalism, development, and international relations. He is currently engaged in a multi-year research project on talent flows in the Asia-Pacific region and a comparative study of US-Japan relations of the 1980s with US-China relations of today.

Shin is the author/editor of over twenty books and numerous articles. His books include Superficial Korea (in Korean); Divergent Memories: Opinion Leaders and the Asia-Pacific War; Global Talent; New Challenges for Maturing Democracies in Korea and Taiwan; One Alliance, Two Lenses: U.S.-Korea Relations in a New Era; and Ethnic Nationalism in Korea, all published by Stanford University Press. His articles have appeared in journals including American Journal of Sociology, Comparative Studies in Society and History, Political Science Quarterly, Foreign Affairs, Australian Journal of International Affairs, Journal of Democracy, Journal of Asian Studies, Pacific Affairs, and Asian Survey.

Before coming to Stanford in 2001, Shin taught at the University of Iowa and UCLA. He holds BA from Yonsei University and MA and PhD from the University of Washington.