Jacqueline Pak is an intellectual historian of Korea and East Asia who teaches the subjects of modern and pre-modern Korean and East Asian history, literature, North-South relations, human rights, women, film, and art. She is best known for her work on Korean nationalism and the independence quest during the colonial rule, including the preeminent nationalist leader, Ahn Changho (1878-1938). Her study caused one of the most enduring controversies in the field of Korean Studies for the past decades. She feels a special kinship with her subject of study, Ahn Changho, with whom her nationalist and artist great-grandfather, Charles Park, studied and lived together with his family at the Young Korean Academy (Hungsadan) headquarters in Los Angeles, established by Ahn Changho in 1913, for more than fifteen years as a nascent member. The Young Korean Academy was a revolutionary leadership-training society established by Ahn Changho in 1913 in California. Her forthcoming biography, Ahn Changho and the Origins of Modern Korea: Quest for Democracy, Unification, and Globalization is based on the private papers of Ahn Changho and Dr. Seo Jaepil (Philip Jaisohn) for the first time, in addition to the sources on Ahn Junggun.

She currently teaches at and George Mason University. Previously, she taught at Cornell University, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, and UCLA. At Seoul National University in 2007, she became the “first non-Korean citizen to teach Korean history”. She also served as a resident faculty at Kyunghee University, Graduate Institute of Peace Studies, in Korea. Born in Korea and educated in America and Britain, she holds a Ph.D. in history from University of London, SOAS; M.A. in Korean Studies from Harvard University; M.A. in politics/political economy from New York University, and B.A. in international relations from the University of Virginia. A recipient of Luce, Korea Foundation, and Dosan Foundation fellowships, her work experiences include the United Nations, Harvard Business School, Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service, Smithsonian, and Northeast History Foundation.

Her subsequent book projects have dealt with the topics at the nexus of Korean history, policy, and diplomacy, including historical interpretations and debates in East Asia, plight of North Koreans, gender, and cultural-esthetic representation, such as Hallyu, History, and Human Rights and Triumph of the Spirit: Comfort Women, Context, and Controversy. She is currently writing a memoir of her family as multigenerational odyssey between Korea and America, including the early leaders of the Korean independence quest, signatory of the Korean Declaration of Independence, pioneering artists, and iconic leaders of women’s movement from late Choson to post-colonial Korea.