SEUNG MO CHOI 최승모

KFAS Fellowship 25th Term (2002)

PhD, Economics, University of Chicago, 2008

Thesis: Sources of Growth and Sources of Knowledge

Work & Experiences 

• Research Assistant, Korea Fixed Income Research Institute, South Korea (2001-2002)
• Lecturer, Economics, University of Chicago (2005-2008)
• Assistant Professor of Economics, Washington State University (2008-2012)
• Economist, European Department, IMF (2012-2018)
• Senior Economist, African Department, IMF (2018-2022)
• Deputy Division Chief, Statistics Department, IMF (2022-present)

Seung Mo Choi is a macroeconomist, currently serving as a Deputy Division Chief in the International Monetary Fund’s Statistics Department, overlooking the application of Big Data and data science for economic analysis, at the IMF. At the IMF, Seung Mo Choi also worked on regional and country-level issues in Europe and Africa and provided lectures on policy issues to officials from the central banks and ministries of finance of IMF member countries. After uploading a series of self-made comics known as “Economics Cartoons” on Facebook, Seung Mo Choi became a leading figure in efforts to popularize economics and inform the public of the importance of economics education. His notable research papers included “How Large Are Learning Externalities?” (International Economic Review, 2011). During his time in the doctoral program in Economics at University of Chicago, Seung Mo Choi was the recipient of the Esther and T.W. Schultz Dissertation Fellowship (2007-2008), the Doolittle-Harrison Fellowship (2006), and the Martin and Margaret Lee Prize (2004).