Joonho Oh
I’m a Ph.D. Candidate in Public Policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. My research focuses on the institutional and social contexts that foster groundbreaking entrepreneurial ideas and the dynamic interactions between entrepreneurs and these contexts.
In my dissertation, I set accelerators as a primary research context. I explore how peers and program directors in the same cohort shape startup ideas and growth opportunities. I also theorize and examine how the benefits of accelerator programs are conditioned by entrepreneurs’ locational choices.
Before my PhD study, I worked for the Ministry of Science & ICT in South Korea, taking charge of multiple entrepreneurship policy programs. I received my B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and Master of Public Policy from Seoul National University.
For fun: how to pronounce my name?
Korean names are (mostly) composed of three letters. The first letter is their family name (you have probably heard about Kim, Lee, Park, and Choi, taking place +50% of Koreans’ family names).
My family name, Oh (오, 吳), is relatively rare (less than 1%). My first name, Joonho, consists of two letters: Joon (준, 俊) & ho (호, 昊). Combined together, the two form the meaning of ‘bright summer sky’. My grandma gave this name to me because I was born on one very cold day — with a wish that my life would get warmer 🙂
Koreans read my name [juno], [joo-no], or [juneau] as ‘h’ becomes silent when the two are combined.