Wookjae Heo headshot photo

Pronouns: he/him

Phone: 765-494-9847

Office:

Marriot Hall 242
900 Mitch Daniels Blvd.
West Lafayette, IN 47907

Curriculum Vitae Selected Publications Back to Directory

Wookjae Heo

Assistant Professor, White Lodging-J.W. Marriott, Jr. School of Hospitality and Tourism Management


Areas of Expertise

  • Financial behavior, consumer behavior, financial stress, insurance planning, machine learning

HHS Signature Research Area(s)

  • Sustainable Organizations and Thriving Communities

Biography

Dr. Wookjae Heo is an Assistant Professor of Financial Counseling and Planning (Division of Consumer Science) in the White Lodging-J.W. Marriot Jr. School of Hospitality & Tourism Management at Purdue University. Prior to join Purdue, Dr. Heo has been a faculty member at South Dakota State University (5 years). Dr. Heo earned his Ph.D. degree of  consumer economics and financial planning from the University of Georgia in 2016. Prior to earning Ph.D. degree, he had worked for a marketing consulting firm as a Strategic Marketing Planner and Consumer Research Specialist in Korea. Before working at the consulting firm, he received MA and BA Degrees from Seoul National University, Korea. His main research interest is broadly about financial consumer welfare including financial behavioral intervention, financial stress, life insurance, and machine learning/data analysis in financial planning and consumer research. With the research interests, he serves some associations as a board/committee member and serves some journals as an editorial board member.

Education

  • PhD, 2016, University of Georgia
  • MA, 2006, Seoul National University
  • BA, 2004, Seoul National University

Social Media Accounts

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

  • Equity and Inclusion Committee member at Financial Therapy Association

Current Courses

  • CSR342 - Personal Finance
  • CSR386 - Risk Management
  • CSR484 - Consumer Investment and Savings Decisions

Selected Honors/Awards

  • Richard L. D. Morse Applied Consumer Economics Award - Professional Paper, American Council of Consumer Interest - April 19, 2022
  • Outstanding Researcher Award, College of Education and Human Sciences, South Dakota State University - February, 2020
  • Early Career Award in Financial Planning, Academy of Financial Services - October, 2019
  • Early Career Research Award, College of Education and Human Sciences, South Dakota State University - May, 2019
  • Outstanding Paper Award, Financial Therapy Association (Journal of Financial Therapy) - October, 2014

Selected Grants

  • Principal Investigator, Annual tracking family financial stress and developing the behavioral intervention: Focusing on farmland workers. National Institute of Food and Agriculture (Hatch, Project No. SD00H672-18). Period: 09/18 - 05/21
  • Principal Investigator, Behavioral economics and the intersection of healthcare and financial decision making across the lifespan (Hatch/Multistate, Project No. SD00R682-19). Period: 09/19 - 05/21