Our People

Wookjae Heo, PhD, leads the Financial Intelligence for Consumer Well-Being Lab and serves as an Associate Professor of Financial Counseling and Planning in Purdue University’s Division of Consumer Science. His work combines behavioral personal finance and data science to understand financial stress, risk tolerance, and household decision-making, with a focus on improving financial well-being for diverse and underserved consumers.

Purushottam Bhandare, PhD, is a graduate of the University of Chicago and currently collaborates with Prof. Wookjae Heo at FinELab (Financial Intelligence for Consumer Well-Being). His research examines the behavioral externalities of artificial intelligence in consumer finance, with a focus on how algorithmic systems shape decision-making, inclusion, and financial well-being. More broadly, his work sits at the intersection of public policy, financial inclusion, behavioral science, and financial technology.

Hye Jun Park is a Ph.D Candidate working under the supervision of Dr. Wookjae Heo. Her research focuses on consumer well-being, with particular interest in how financial experiences and everyday money management shape individuals’ quality of life.

Woojin Lee, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Retail, Hospitality, and Tourism Management at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. His research focuses on big data analytics, system optimization, and digital transformation within the service industries. Specifically, he examines how emerging technologies and algorithmic systems shape business resilience and productivity, as well as customer experience.

John Grable, Ph.D., CFP® is a Full Professor at the University of Georgia and an internationally recognized expert in financial behavior and financial risk tolerance. In the FinE Lab, he serves as a Senior Associate Researcher, providing advisory support and strategic guidance on research related to consumer financial decision-making.

Junhyug Noh, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Artificial Intelligence at Ewha Womans University. He serves as an AI advisor to the Financial Intelligence for Consumer Well-being (FinELab), providing strategic guidance on AI research directions and applications.

Yeonseo Jo is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Florida and a Research Assistant with the FinE Lab. Her work focuses on consumer behavior and the application of natural language processing (NLP) methods to analyze consumer narratives and financial decision-making.

Jaeyi Sung is an M.S. student at Ewha Womans University and a Research Assistant with the FinE Lab. She specializes in machine learning and deep learning, focusing on financial data analytics and the development of predictive algorithms.