Chances are, if you have not been taught by, worked with, or even met her, you have heard the name Yurie Hong around Gustavus.

Yurie is described by those who know her well as a caring, ambitious, and energetic person.

“[Yurie] is the kind of professor I aspire to be: wicked smart, deeply curious about everything around her, able to effortlessly recognize and communicate important connections among seemingly unrelated things,” Professor Martin Lang said.

She is admired by her students as much as her colleagues. “She is the kind of professor who will give as much as she gets. If a student demonstrates interest and care for a subject, then she will do whatever she can to help them succeed. She once offered to teach me Greek over the summer on her own time,” an advisee of Yurie’s, Stephanie Nguyen said.

The associate professor of Classics and Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies was raised in Los Angeles, where she is one of four siblings.

Yurie’s parents had immigrated from Korea, bringing traditions that shaped the perspectives she has today.

“My grandparents lived with us and living in a multigenerational household influenced my ideas about the ancient world. I have always loved stories. The power of narrative shapes our understanding of where we came from and where we are going,” Yurie said.

Yurie’s interest in Greek myths led her to studying Classics at UCLA. She taught Latin before going to graduate school at the University of Washington in Seattle.

“[Yurie] is fiercely committed to bringing everyone’s ideas to the table, and she has an invitational way of making people feel at ease with and learning from one another.” — Professor Lang

Over ten years ago, she had a choice of teaching at either Arizona State University or Gustavus. “There was no question,” Yurie said.

She chose to teach at Gustavus for its academic and pedagogical environment, the great people, the ability of continual learning, and the cross-disciplinary connections.

The biggest stage that displays cross-disciplinary connections is at the Nobel Conference, an event unique to Gustavus that compares the science and ethics behind a certain topic. This year, the conference was focused on reproductive technology and chaired by Yurie.

The idea ‘grew from a curiosity’. Reproduction was part of her research, but after Yurie attended a talk given by Professor Alisa Rosenthal, she came up with the idea of exploring reproductive technology through the conference.

The idea would investigate government intervention in reproduction, identify the social consequences that scientists face, and inquire what is ethically right.

Chairing the Nobel Conference is no easy task. “Yurie was the Energizer Bunny of Nobel Conference chairs. Make that the cell mitochondria of the Nobel Conference,” Lisa Heldke, Director of the Nobel Conference, said. “Endless energy and boundless creativity.”

Much of Yurie’s energy was spent organizing meetings, delegating tasks, and attending interviews. She recently went to the Twin Cities to be interviewed about a poll conducted at Gustavus regarding male contraception.

It was Yurie’s first time being so involved in Nobel and it was an experience she won’t forget. She describes the conference as ‘overwhelming’. “It introduces the audience to new concepts and gives others a chance to expand their knowledge of the topic.”

According to Yurie, all of the speakers addressed about what they were expected to contribute and all goals were accomplished. “She vaulted the conference to another level,” Heldke said.

Students also appreciated her efforts in making this year’s Nobel conference memorable. “She chaired the best Nobel Conference that I have ever been to as a Gustavus student.

“She pulled off truly putting both science and ethics at the forefront of the conference, neither one overshadowed the other. Her Nobel was pretty much the embodiment of the Liberal Arts,” said Nguyen.

Beyond teaching, Yurie is heavily involved within the college. She is on the Compensation Committee, participated in the Senate, and was fundamental in shaping the school’s Parental Leave Policy into what it is today.

“[Yurie] chaired the best Nobel Conference that I have ever been to as a Gustavus student.” — Stephanie Nguyen

“She is fiercely committed to bringing everyone’s ideas to the table, and she has an invitational way of making people feel at ease sharing with and learning from one another.

“She’s like a bumblebee who flies around pollinating idea flowers to bloom and grow in places they never could without her help,” Lang said.

When Yurie is not on campus, she enjoys eating ice cream, watching television, and spending time with her family and friends. She lives in St. Peter with her husband, Seán Easton, a Classics professor at Gustavus, and their two young children.

Yurie Hong is a professor, a colleague, a mother, a friend, a leader, and also “a baker of high repute,” Lang said. She is exceptional in all of these roles as “she is impossibly energetic given how relentlessly hard she works at everything in her life.”