Ju-Ho Lee

Ju Ho Lee is a Professor of Practice at Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation at ASU and a former Acting President of the Republic of Korea (2025). He previously served as Acting Prime Minister (2025), Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education (2022–2025), Minister of Education, Science and Technology (2010–2013), and a Member of the National Assembly (2004–2008). He is widely recognized for his leadership in education reform and for bridging academic research and public policy. During his second tenure as Minister of Education, he led a national transformation of Korea’s education system by scaling the High Touch High Tech (HTHT) approach, which leverages AI-based courseware while redefining the role of teachers to focus on mentoring, guidance, and deeper learning. Internationally, he has contributed to global education policy through his work with the Education Commission, where he served as a Commissioner and chaired the Education Workforce Initiative. In that role, he helped advance the High Touch High Tech vision as a global framework for harnessing artificial intelligence to empower teachers and improve learning outcomes. Throughout his career—as an academic, legislator, and cabinet minister—Lee has demonstrated a distinctive ability to translate rigorous research on human capital and development into large-scale policy innovation and institutional reform in Korea and beyond. He received his B.A. and M.A. from Seoul National University and his Ph.D. in Economics from Cornell University.