University to Add Focus on Global Economic Research

California State University Channel Islands is launching its Institute for Global Economic Research next month on the university’s campus. The institute is part of the Martin V. Smith School of Business & Economics. It is designed to complement existing economic forecast programs by focusing on global and national economies with a special emphasis on the Pacific Rim region. The institute will also serve as an information resource on international, national and regional economic data and forecasts, and will facilitate international contracts and research that is relevant to current events and the interests of local companies. The institute is expected by the university to be of particular value to companies contemplating national and international expansion. The April 8 event, which will include lunch, will feature a presentation called “National Economic Outlook and Its Relationships to the Local Region” by Dr. Sung Won Sohn, director of the institute. Sohn has served as president and CEO of Hanmi Financial Corporation, executive vice president and CEO of Wells Fargo Bank, senior economist on the president’s Council of Economic Advisors in the White House and tenured professor in the Pennsylvania State University system. He is also a published author, was named by the Wall Street Journal as the most accurate economists in 2006 and as one of the top five forecasters in the country in 2010. Sohn also serves on various industry and university boards. Jessica Vernabe