SHINAE CHUN
Director

On May 9, 2001, Shinae Chun was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the 15th Director of the Women's Bureau. Serving under Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao, Ms. Chun is President Bush’s highest ranking Korean American appointee, and heads the only Federal agency charged with advocating on behalf of women in the workforce.

During her tenure she has transformed the way the Women's Bureau does business by implementing innovative demonstration projects, increasing partnerships, and enhancing the Bureau’s visibility. Under her leadership, the Women’s Bureau strives to advance the status of 21st Century Working Women in the pursuit of Better Jobs! Better Earnings! Better Living!

In 1991, Governor James Edgar appointed her Director of the Illinois Department of Labor, a position she held until 1999. Two years prior to this appointment, she made Illinois history when Governor James R. Thompson appointed her Director of the Illinois Department of Financial Institutions, making her Illinois’ first ever Asian American cabinet member.

In 1982, Ms. Chun was one of the founding members of the Asian American Advisory Council to Governor Thompson. In 1984, the Governor appointed her Special Assistant to the Governor on Asian American Affairs, the first such position in the country.

From 1976 to 1983, through the Title VII Bilingual Education Program and the Title IX Multiethnic Studies Program, she developed a teacher inservice training program to heighten the sensitivity of public school teachers to cultural diversity in the classroom.

Ms. Chun completed her undergraduate degree at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, Korea, and her Master's degree in Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University. In 1992, she received a fellowship to the Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government.

She has received the “Alumni Merit Award” from Northwestern University and the “Outstanding Alumni Award” from Ewha Womans University; the Business Women’s Network “Special Achievement for Leadership Award;” the Southern Women in Public Service “Pacesetter Award;” and the Asian American Coalition of Chicago “Excellence in Public Service Award.” She is author of From the Mountains of Masan to the Land of Lincoln (1996).

Ms. Chun and her husband, Dr. Kyong Chul Chun, have two sons.