pacific forum History of Pacific Forum

David S. Lee

David is a Principal Lecturer at the University of Hong Kong Business School, where he works broadly in the areas of ethics, corporate governance, fintech, leadership, and the economics and politics of the Korean peninsula. He is a UGC Teaching Award recipient, the highest university teaching honor in Hong Kong, and was the first teacher from a business school to ever receive a UCG Teaching Award.

Combining his interests in ethics, finance, and technology, David is a co-instructor for a unique massive online open course titled, Fintech Ethics and Risks, which has thousands of students enrolled globally. He is also a co-author of the first Asia focused business ethics textbook, Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases, An Asia Edition (Cengage Learning Asia). His writing and commentary have appeared in outlets like the Harvard Business Review, Arirang TVHandelsblatt, the Nikkei Asian ReviewNK NewsThe Korea Times, and the South China Morning Post.

David remains engaged with industry by advising and training companies (including Global Fortune 500 firms), board members, and executives on ethics, corporate governance, leadership, and strategic matters. Additionally, he regularly works with entrepreneurs, particularly those at the intersection of finance and technology (“fintech”), as well as with both public and private market investors.

David was formerly a Young Leader and a James A. Kelly Fellow (non-resident) at Pacific Forum as well as a POSCO Fellow at the East-West Center. He is also a Network of Korean-American Leaders (NetKAL) Fellow and a Fellow at the Asian Institute of International Financial Law at the University of Hong Kong.

David worked in investment management in Hong Kong and London before joining the University of Hong Kong. He started his career at Goldman Sachs and has experience in law, consulting, and entrepreneurial ventures.

David earned his J.D. from UCLA School of Law, his M.Sc. from the London School of Economics and Political Science, his M.A. from Harvard University, post-graduate training at Cambridge, and his B.A. from Brigham Young University.