Organizational Dynamics International/Full-Time Student Community (ODISC)

The Special Interest Group, ODISC, is dedicated to assisting international and full-time students. They offer help with the application process, offer career-enhancing activities, promote cultural diversity, and serve as ambassadors for the MSOD and MPhil degree programs both here and abroad. ODISC was launched in March 2008 via a special presentation at an Organizational Dynamics Dinner Lecture. Membership is open to all and will be of special interest to any ODEN members who have participated in an International Course Abroad or intend to do so. Leadership of ODISC varies from year to year, so if you are interested in joining the group, call the main office, 215-898-6967, for a contact person.

Founding Members

Liping Di

A Human Resources professional, Liping Di, from Shanghai, China, searched the Internet for a program that would satisfy her desire to further her career in HR and Organization Development. "I regarded the Organizational Dynamics Program as a timely, strong support to achieve my future career goals," she says. Liping graduated in 2009 and returned to China to assume the position of Talent Management Program Manager at Baxter Healthcare Trading. Here is her profile: Liping Di Profile

Eunjung Lee

Eunjung Lee hails from Seoul, Korea and has worked and studied in France and England, serving as an HR Manager and an Analyst before returning to graduate school. Like most international students, she learned about Organizational Dynamics at Penn on the Internet. "No other program in education or business truly seemed to be as prepared to tackle business organizational issues," she noted, and "learning from peers who are successful managers was of great merit." Following her graduation in 2009 she began a new career as an Organization Development consultant at HayGroup, Korea (coincidently, HayGroup’s headquarter is in Philadelphia). She wrote, “Every day I share the knowledge and experiences that I learned from my 2 years at Penn with the consultants here, and they show great interest and offer positive comments. Now I think even more that the curriculum and the faculty couldn’t be greater. The practical and theoretical study at Organizational Dynamics was a great learning experience for me.” Eunjung also serves as an ambassador by discussing the program with prospective students living in Seoul or other Korean cities.

Kimiharu (Haru) Kurokawa

Kimiharu (Haru) Kurokawa from Osaka, Japan, studied International Politics at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, focusing on Japan-U.S security relationships. He worked as in the diplomatic section in the Japanese Foreign Ministry prior to discovering the Organizational Dynamics program on the Internet. "I wanted to acquire skills and competencies to solve various problems I've seen in my organization," he said when he arrived. "After graduation, I will go back to Japan and try to apply what I've gained in this program for organizational changes." But after graduation, when the opportunity became available, Haru decided to remain in the US and is currently posted as a Diplomat in the office of the Japanese Foreign Ministry in Washington, DC.

Gmelina (Gem) O. Guiang

Gmelina (Gem) O. Guiang had over seven years of work experience in various economic research and development projects under the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). She was also the infrastructure development sector manager and policy development specialist with the Economic Policy and Reform Advocacy Project of USAID Philippines and she taught economics and statistics to both undergraduate and graduate students at the Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines from 2003 to 2007. She obtained her BA in economics from Ateneo de Manila University and her Master's of Social Science in Economics degree from the National University of Singapore. With such an academic and applied background, she began a search for an additional graduate program that could integrate her professional experiences and she discovered it was available at Organizational Dynamics. An outstanding student, Gem earned her Master of Science in Organizational Dynamics in May 2009 and was the winner of the Paul J. Korshin Award for Academic Excellence. She also completed graduate certificates in the Leadership/Management and Practitioner of Development and Change studies. Here is her profile: Gmelina O. Guiang

Nai-wei Shih

Nai-Wei Shih, while a full-time international student, became a tireless volunteer and organizer almost immediately after joining the Organizational Dynamics program in 2008 as a Master of Philosophy degree student. In addition to participating on the Coaching Advisory Board, assisting with the development of Ambassador Kits, and maintaining a research associate role for a global coaching project working with the Program’s Director, she also carved out time to be the co-founder of the special interest group for international students (ODISC). Originally from Taiwan, Nai-Wei was reared in New Zealand and takes a global approach to everything. She is an alumna of the University of Auckland (UA) and served as volunteer alumni coordinator for UA while she was living in Philadelphia. Prior to her MPhil degree program, she worked for a multi-national pharmaceutical company in Taiwan as Sales Representative and later Training Manager. She said repeatedly, "I am enjoying every minute of my time here at UPenn," I hope to use what I've learned here and contribute back to the ODISC community, the university and society!" And after graduating in 2009 and winning the Lois Ginsberg Award for Outstanding Leadership and Community Development, she has certainly accomplished much of this goal.