Valentin Bolotnyy is a Kleinheinz Fellow at the Hoover Institution and an Affiliated Scholar at CDDRL's Deliberative Democracy Lab. He designs and analyzes randomized experiments aimed at understanding how Americans communicate about politics and public policy, and what factors may lead to changes in public opinion on key issues. He also works on forming research partnerships with government agencies to improve public services and gain insight into social behavior. His recent studies have covered the America in One Room experiment, climate adaptation, the gender earnings gap, public infrastructure procurement, immigration policies, and graduate student mental health. Bolotnyy received a PhD in Economics from Harvard University and a BA in Economics and International Relations, with honors and distinction, from Stanford University.

Joanne Spetz is Director and Brenda and Jeffrey L. Kang Presidential Chair in Health Care Financing at the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies (IHPS), University of California San Francisco. Dr. Spetz’s research focuses on the economics of the health care workforce, organization of health care services, and quality of health care. She directs the federally funded UCSF Health Workforce Research Center on Long-Term Care, which generates evidence to ensure an adequate workforce to provide patient-centered care to individuals with long-term care needs across the lifespan. She is an internationally known expert on the nursing workforce, leading studies of nurse supply, demand, education, earnings, and contributions to the quality of care across healthcare settings. Her current research includes serving as the co-Principal Investigator for the National Dementia Workforce Study, and leading a study of the nurse practitioners and midwives in California.

Dr. Lee Sanders is a general pediatrician and Professor of Pediatrics at the Stanford University School of Medicine, where he is Chief of the Division of General Pediatrics. He holds joint appointments in the Department of Health Policy, Department of Epidemiology and Population Health and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. He teaches in the Human Biology Program and at the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (Stanford d.School). He is a national expert in the science of health literacy, which applies a literacy lens to advancing maternal and child health equity. He directs the Stanford Health Literacy Lab, which aims to address child disparities in health and educational, by redesigning primary-care with youth and families. 
 

Dr. Williams' research focuses primarily on reproductive and perinatal epidemiology. Over three decades, she has integrated epidemiological, biological, and molecular approaches into rigorously designed research that has advanced understanding of placental abruption, gestational diabetes, and preeclampsia. Her research methodology includes: (1) identifying literature gaps; (2) developing robust epidemiological data systems across North America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and South America; and (3) integrating biochemical and molecular biomarkers into these platforms. In 2019, in partnership with Apple Inc. and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, she co-designed and currently co-leads the Apple Women's Health Study, a large-scale digital national study examining determinants of women's gynecological health. Dr. Williams has been recognized for her excellence in teaching, as the recipient of the 2015 Harvard Chan School’s Outstanding Mentor Award, the UW’s Brotman Award for excellence in teaching (2007), the American Public Health Association’s Abraham Lilienfeld Award for education in epidemiology (2007), and the White House’s Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring (2012).

Jeffrey Pfeffer is The Thomas D. Dee II Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University where he has taught since 1979. He currently serves on the advisory boards for Collective Health, Medeloop, Quorso, and Veridian, and on the boards of the nonprofits Quantum Leap Healthcare and the San Francisco Playhouse. His current research focuses on the effects of work environments on human health and well-being, power and leadership in organizations, evidence-based management, the knowing-doing gap, and how thinking of time like money affects people’s choices about spending time in ways that promote unhappiness.

Omar Galárraga, PhD is a health economist and tenured Professor of Health Services, Policy and Practice at the Brown University School of Public Health. He currently serves as the Director of the Center for Global Public Health (CGPH) at Brown. Dr. Galárraga’s research applies principles from health and behavioral economics to improve public health outcomes, with a specific focus on: (a) HIV Prevention & Treatment: Designing and evaluating economic-based interventions, such as conditional economic incentives to improve adherence to antiretroviral therapy and reduce risk behaviors; (b) Health Systems: Analyzing health systems reform and insurance expansion in low- and middle-income countries; and (c) Applied Econometrics: Utilizing rigorous experimental and non-experimental methods to evaluate health interventions and policies. 

The Asia-Pacific region has witnessed some of the most remarkable economic success stories of the modern era. Japan’s postwar rise, China’s ascent to the world’s second-largest economy, India’s emergence as a top-five economic power, and Australia’s long-standing resilience despite its small population all testify to the region’s dynamism. Central to these achievements has been the ability to cultivate, attract, and utilize talent—though each country has done so in distinct ways shaped by its history, culture, and institutions. This book explores how these four "talent giants" sustained growth amid demographic decline, brain drain, and geopolitical tension, offering timely insights into the link between talent and development. In an era of intensifying global competition for talent and polarized immigration debates, this discussion could not be more timely.

Speaker:

Gi-Wook Shin is the William J. Perry Professor of Contemporary Korea in the Department of Sociology, senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, and the founding director of the Korea Program at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC) since 2001, all at Stanford University. In May 2024, Shin also launched the Taiwan Program at APARC. He served as director of APARC for two decades (2005-2025). As a historical-comparative and political sociologist, his research has concentrated on social movements, nationalism, development, democracy, migration, and international relations.