Alumni - List Alphabetical - Berkeley APEC Study Center

Alumni Directory

The Berkeley APEC Study Center is currently looking for new ways to connect its alumni. This section features some of the accomplishments of our alumni and their contact information. The list is organized by last name. We will be updating this page frequently for the next couple weeks.

If you are one of our alumni and would like to be listed in this directory, we invite you to send us your information at basc@berkeley.edu. Thank you!

1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
2001	2002	2003	2004	2006
2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
2012	2013

Priyanka Anand is currently a graduate student in the Economics Department at Yale University. Priyanka is currently completing a PhD in Economics at Yale University. Her areas of research are labor economics and applied econometrics. Prior to her graduate studies, she was a Fulbright scholar studying the effects of government subsidized schooling on academic achievement in Chile. She completed her BA at UC Berkeley with a double major in Economics and Political Science.

priyanka629 “at” yahoo.com

Ravi Bhandari is Associate Professor of Economics and Chevron Chair of Development. He has been awarded numerous teaching awards and has worked at the Universities of San Francisco, Hawaii, and most recently UC Berkeley before joining Saint Mary’s College in California. His teaching and research interests include development economics, the history of economic thought, labor economics, comparative economics, econometrics, the sociology of development, and world economic history. Professor Bhandari has published in leading international journals such as the Journal of Developing Societies, Journal of Economic Studies, Review of International Political Economy, and Sociological Bulletin. Professionally, Professor Bhandari has worked as a lead economic consultant for various international development agencies. Currently, Ravi is a Fulbright Senior Scholar in Nepal and Visiting Professor at both Kathmandu University’s School of Management and Tribhuvan University exploring the causes and consequences of inequality on growth, conflict, and democracy. His research also hopes to situate the recent experience of Nepal in a larger international context with other failed/post-conflict states —Afghanistan, Sudan, Kosovo, Congo, Cambodia, and Guatemala.

ravib “at” hotmail.com

Kathy Bowen is currently a first-year law student at the University of California, Berkeley. Before entering Berkeley Law, she spent two years working in Rome, Italy at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. During her time at the UN FAO, she served both as an assistant to the Deputy Director General of Operations and, subsequently, as a management consultant in FAO’s Office of Support to Decentralization. Kathy graduated with a B.A. in Political Science and a minor in Conservation and Resource Studies in 2011 from Berkeley. She enjoys practicing her Italian, yoga and Mad Men.

Lily Bradley is an Innovator in Residence at the Department of Health and Human Services working on open data and open government policy and initiatives. Prior to joining government, Ms Bradley was a management consultant focused on strategy, marketing, and health economics for biopharma and life sciences firms. She also spent several years conducting health policy research and program evaluation at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, CA. Ms Bradley holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, and graduated magna cum laude with a BA in political science from UC Berkeley.

lily.bradley “at” hhs.gov

Robert Chen is currently a business analyst in the strategy management consulting practice at Accenture where he primarily works with high tech clients but with energy companies, electric utilities and pharmaceuticals as well. He studied Political Science and Molecular & Cell Biology and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from UC Berkeley in May 2008. He currently lives in the beautiful city of San Francisco.

robert.yh.chen “at” gmail.com

Ross Cheriton completed his Political Science degree at UC Berkeley in 2008. Following graduation he was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army, and worked as an Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Platoon Leader at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. He deployed to Afghanistan in 2010 and was responsible for planning and conducting intelligence collection operations in Helmand and Zabul Provinces. Currently, he is an employee for a multinational firm located in Kanagawa, Japan. In between work and preparing for graduate school, Ross makes the most of his time by sailing and exploring the Puget Sound, Seattle, and greater Pacific Northwest.

rosscheriton “at” gmail.com

Lauren Dansey worked at the Berkeley APEC Study Center from 2010-2011. Her primary projects included surveying the progress on the Trans-Pacific Partnership as well as the increased cooperation among the People’s Republic of China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, New Zealand, and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN+6). Lauren graduated from Berkeley with a degree in Political Science. She worked with the Teach for America program in Richmond, CA at De Anza High School as a special education resource specialist. Lauren is currently attending the University of Michigan Law School.

ldansey “at”gmail.com

Nathan DeRemer is currently an Agent Trainee with APA Talent and Literacy Agency based in Beverly Hills. Prior to his current job, he worked as an Information Systems Clerk for the Los Angeles-based law firm Stone Rosenblatt and Cha. Born and raised a sports fan in Los Angeles, Nathan remains an adamant fan of the Lakers, Dodgers, Minnesota Vikings, and, of course, the California Golden Bears. He loves Mexican, Middle Eastern and Indian food, Champions League soccer, and the ocean. Whenever he can escape his addiction to current world news, film and music of every genre, you can most likely find him spending time with his family, at the beach or at a local concert event with his friends. At Berkeley he studied Political Science and English and wrote for The Daily Californian for three years.

natmer “at” gmail.com

Paul Dosh is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Macalester College. Before joining the Macalester faculty in 2004, Paul Dosh taught comparative, Latin American, and urban politics at Carleton College. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from Carleton (1996), a Ph.D. in Political Science from UC Berkeley (2004), and is the recipient of several teaching awards. His publications on pedagogy, human rights, and urban segregation appear in the Political Science Educator, Latin American Perspectives, Latin American Politics & Society, and the Journal of Latin American Studies, and he is writing a book about urban social movements in South American cities.

dosh “at” macalester.edu

David Guarino is currently an Assistant Public Policy Analyst with the California Health Benefits Review Program, which responds to requests from the California State Legislature to provide independent analysis of the medical, financial, and public health impacts of proposed health insurance benefit mandates and repeals. He graduated from Berkeley in 2007 with a degree in Political Economy. Prior to engaging his real passion in the public policy sphere, he served on the Board of Directors and as Vice President of Financial Affairs for the Berkeley Student Cooperative, a non-profit low-cost housing organization serving more than 1,200 students. He has also previously worked as an analyst in biotech and pharmaceutical consulting.

david.w.guarino “at” gmail.com

Faisal Ghori is an investment professional at an emerging markets focused alternative investment firm, where he concentrates on the Middle East. Upon graduation, Faisal joined a bulge bracket investment bank. Later, he was the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship – spending time in Amman, Jordan and Dubai, UAE – where he investigated the technology landscape in the Middle East, scouring for investment opportunities. He speaks Arabic, Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu.

fghori “at” cal.berkeley.edu

Vaishnavi Jayakumar graduated with a degree in Political Economy, concentrating on the economics of East Asian regionalism. In the summer of 2009, she interned with the Singapore government at the Ministry of Law, working with the intellectual property policy division to create a set of quantitative metrics evaluating global innovation and preparing for Singapore’s hosting of the 2009 APEC meetings. She previously worked for Automation Solutions, a boutique management consultancy in Singapore, advising clients on Islamic financing and human resource management in Southeast Asia. Two summers ago, Vaishnavi worked for ABN AMRO Bank in Mumbai on windmill financing projects for commercial clients and re-assessed departmental budgets within the organization. She is now an Associate in the Public Policy and Government Relations division at Google. In her free time, Vaishnavi loves learning new languages and avidly follows fashion photography.

Christine Kao currently works in the Intellectual Property and Identity Policy group at Twitter where she handles platform-wide trademark and impersonation issues. Prior to joining Twitter, she was a forensic consultant at Navigant Consulting where focused on complex commercial litigations including commercial damages, intellectual property and unfair competition. Ms. Kao holds a JD from the University of Southern California School of Law and an undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley where she double majored in business and psychology.

Moonhawk Kim joined the faculty of the University of Colorado in 2007 after receiving his Ph.D. from Stanford University. His research and teaching interests include international political economy and international institutions. His current projects examine (1) why the GATT/WTO has evolved over time to increasingly incorporate issue-areas other than trade, such as health and development and (2) why countries incorporate labor and environmental provisions into their trade policies. His research appears in International Studies Quarterly and SAIS Review.

moonhawk.kim “at ” colorado.edu

Justin Kolbeck is currently a Senior Associate at PwC Consulting. Until March, 2013 he was a Foreign Service Officer at the US Department of State. He was worked at consulates in Pakistan and Australia, and was the civilian team leader of a provincial reconstruction team in Afghanistan. Most recently, he served as Economic Policy Officer for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, in Washington, D.C. Justin worked as an investment adviser in California for three years prior to joining the U.S. Foreign Service in 2006. Originally from Whittier, Justin received his B.A. from Berkeley and a Diplome International from l’Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (“Sciences Po”). He speaks French and Pashto.

justinkolbeck “at” hotmail.com

Min Gyo Koo was the Northeast Asian Project Director at BASC from Spring 2001 to Summer 2005. Min Gyo is currently Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Administration at Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea. His research and teaching interests include international and East Asian political economy, the politics of international trade, international governance, and Asia-Pacific security affairs. He has recently published a book, entitled Island Disputes and Maritime Regime Building in East Asia: Between a Rock and a Hard Place (New York: Springer, July 2009). Aside from several book chapters, he has published his research in a wide range of journals, including The Pacific Review, Pacific Affairs, European Journal of East Asia Studies, Global Asia, Harvard Asia Quarterly, and Journal of East Asian Studies. He has also co-edited (with Vinod K. Aggarwal) Asia’s New Institutional Architecture: Evolving Structures for Managing Trade, Financial, and Security Relations (New York: Springer, 2007). During the academic years 2005-07, he served as a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for International Studies, as a research fellow at the Korean Studies Institute, and as a full time lecturer in the School of International Relations at the University of Southern California. Prior to obtaining his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, he received his BA in political science and MA in public administration from Seoul National University. Koo also holds an MA in international relations and international economics from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

mgkoo “at” yonsei.ac.kr

Nikhil Kumar is currently an MBA candidate at the Columbia Business School. Before entering school again in 2013, he started working at Bank of America in 2010, rising through the ranks to Assistant Vice President before leaving to pursue an MBA. During his time at BASC, Nikhil focused on the Indian economy after its financial liberalization during the early 1990s and on how businesses lobbied North American governments before the passage of NAFTA. Nikhil graduated from Berkeley with a degree in Business Administration and a degree in Political Science. In the future, Nikhil wants to engage in public policy-making and to teach as a college professor.

NikhilKumar87 “at” gmail.com

Leslie Lang is the Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Microclinic International, a global health nonprofit that is revolutionizing how chronic diseases are prevented and managed in under-resourced communities around the world. Microclinic International pioneers an innovative microclinic model of contagious health that combats diseases such as diabetes and HIV/AIDS across four different continents.

Leslie is currently a World Economic Forum Global Shaper and a Shafik Gabr U.S.-Egypt Exchange Fellow. Prior to joining Microclinic International, Leslie worked for the top ranking law firm Sullivan & Cromwell. Leslie was also a John Gardner Fellow at the World Bank and has spent time at international institutions such as the United Nations, the African Development Bank, the Supreme Court of Rwanda, and the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

Leslie received her J.D. from Harvard Law School and her B.S./B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, as a Regents’ and Chancellor’s Scholar. While a student at Berkeley, Leslie founded a language access program that supports the Alameda County Social Services Agency and non-English speaking communities to this day.

leslang “at”gmail.com

Brandon W. Loew is Legal Director, M&A at Yahoo! Inc., where he is responsible for legal activities associated with the company’s M&A transactions. In the course of his career, Mr. Loew has worked on private and public mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures and capital raisings for numerous clients. Mr. Loew received his J.D. degree in 2002 from Columbia Law School, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and a senior editor of the Columbia Law Review. He graduated in 1999 from the University of California, Berkeley, with a Bachelor of Arts degree (with high distinction) in Economics and Political Science. While at BASC, Mr. Loew focused on studying the aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Prior to joining Yahoo, Mr. Loew was an associate attorney at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Palo Alto, California, and at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York, New York. Mr. Loew is admitted to practice law in California and New York.

Mr. Loew is a member of the New York Bar.

BWL7 “at”columbia.edu

Vivek Narayanadas is an associate in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP’s Los Angeles office, practicing in the firm’s Litigation Department. Before joining the firm, Mr. Narayanadas served as a law clerk to the Honorable D. Brooks Smith of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and to the Honorable Anita B. Brody of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Additionally, Mr. Narayanadas previously practiced as a litigation associate at Irell & Manella LLP.

vnarayanadas “at” gibsondunn.com

Mytoan Nguyen is a PhD Candidate in the Wisconsin Sociology program. Her research interests include the sociology of economic change and development, race and ethnic studies, and migration. She has conducted research outside of North American in Chile, Australia, and Vietnam. Mytoan received a Fulbright IIE fellowship to study in Australia (2003-2004) and an academic year FLAS fellowship (2008-2009) to pursue Vietnamese language training and coursework in Southeast Asian area studies. She fondly remembers working at BASC with Prof. Aggarwal, many fun political science graduate students, and undergraduate research assistants.

mnguyen “at” ssc.wisc.edu

Matt Odette is Assistant Vice President at Union Bank. Matt graduated UC Berkeley in 2002, having spent his senior year as a research assistant at BASC. Since leaving Berkeley, Mr. Odette has held jobs in the legal and finance professions. He spent five years in J.P. Morgan’s municipal and infrastructure investment banking group, where he worked on greenfield and acquisition transactions for public agencies and private investors across the United States. Mr. Odette currently works in Union Bank’s project finance business, where he arranges financings for generation, transmission and infrastructure projects. He lives in the Los Angeles area.

odette_59 “at” yahoo.com

Jennifer J. Rho is an associate in the Los Angeles office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. She practices in the firm’s Litigation Department and Intellectual Property Group, with a focus on patent litigation. Ms. Rho received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Chicago Law School in 2007. During law school, Ms. Rho was a member of the University of Chicago Law Review and the Chicago Journal of International Law. She graduated with honors from the University of California, Berkeley in 2004, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Economy of Industrial Societies.Ms. Rho is a member of the California bar. She is also admitted to practice before the United States District Courts for the Central District of California and the Eastern District of Texas.

JRho “at” gibsondunn.com

Vinay Shamasundara, a research assistant between September 2002 and May 2003, graduated in 2004 with a B.A. in Economics. After that, he worked in the Bay Area for a major Management/IT consulting firm, during which time he realized that he instead wanted to pursue Medicine. As such, he left the consulting industry in the spring of 2007, enrolling in Bryn Mawr College’s post-baccalaureate pre-medical program, and then working in pediatric research at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He will enter medical school this fall.

vinay “at” cal.berkeley.edu

Henluen Wang is an Associate with Lazard Frères & Co. with a focus in the technology sector. Prior to her current job, she worked in corporate finance for four years, two at Yahoo!’s Corporate International Operations Finance group and two as an associate in the Communications & Media Group of FTI Consulting’s Corporate Finance Division. Henluen graduated with a B.A. in Political Science, summa cum laude, and a B.S. in Business Administration,cum laude, from UC Berkeley in 2004. She has also earned an MBA from the Harvard Business School in 2010.

henluen”at” yahoo.com

Daniel Xu is an intellectual property attorney specializing in patent prosecution, patent counseling, and patent licensing. Daniel works for LegalForce RAPC Worldwide, P.C., a modern progressive law firm based in Silicon Valley. With over 15,000 clients worldwide, LegalForce RAPC Worldwide has offices in the United States, Europe, China, and India. Prior to joining LegalForce, Daniel worked as an attorney at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and at the Office of Intellectual Property at UCLA. Daniel holds a J.D. from Duke University School of Law where he was on the editorial board of the Duke Law Journal, the law review of Duke Law. Daniel also holds an M.S. in biomedical engineering from UCLA and a B.A. from UC Berkeley.

daniel.xu “at” gmail.com