Sungjong Roh

Sungjong Roh received his Ph.D. at Cornell University and is currently an Assistant Professor in the Lee Kong Chian School of Business at Singapore Management University.

Dr. Roh has two closely related areas of research and teaching expertise: (0) computational data science—using machine learning and causal inference with languages like Python, R, and C++ for quantitative business problem-solving; and (1) behavioral decision-making—investigating the underlying mechanisms through which managers, consumers, and investors make judgments and choices.

The common goal and denominator of his two areas of expertise is to answer the core question: how we can maximize learning from data, to make better (and/or optimal) decisions to solve daily problems in organizations and society?

In particular, Dr. Roh has four streams of research.

• One line of work focuses on the role of time (temporal cues in situ as well as temporal orientations of individuals and organizations) in shaping judgments and choices.

• Dr. Roh also studies how innocuous choices on computational data visualization of the same information can lead to meaningful differences in interpretations and motivations to engage in follow-up actions and how this may hold a broad societal impact.

• His other main area of research examines motivated reasoning: how self-knowledge (either accurate or mistaken) and group-identity can (a) lead people astray from reality (overconfidence; misperception of self and others; falling prey to misinformation) and (b) bring people together (mobilize) or divide (polarize) them.

• The application of machine learning and natural language processing, to draw hidden insights from multimodal (text, audio, visual) data of economic news, financial reports, consumer reviews, employee reviews, and speeches and writings of leaders in organizations (e.g., CEOs’ letters and interviews) is also an integral part of his inquiry.

Dr. Roh has been leading classes and workshops on: (a) behavioral sciences of judgments and choices; (b) computational analytics on financial and marketing data. His courses analyze real-world examples and cases, approach them with evidence-based solutions, learning from data (rather than from intuitions, beliefs, personal experiences), so as to enhance quality of strategic decision making.

Dr. Roh leads classes and workshops for his business school students (undergraduates and post-graduates), working professionals, and executives. He strives to feature the three “I”s in his professional engagements: interesting, informative, and insightful conversations.

Dr. Roh is a recipient of university-wide "Most Promising Teacher" Award at Singapore Management University. He is a Fellow of SMU Academy.