Title:
Collegiate Professor
Pronouns:
she, her
Subject Areas
MBA
Education
JD, Georgia State University College of Law
MIS, Ewha Womans University
MBA, University of Maryland Global Campus
BA, Agnes Scott College
Teaching Locations
Kaiserslautern, Germany
Email
Professor Kathy So joined UMGC (formerly UMUC) Asia in 2015 as an adjunct faculty member and taught students in Korea and Japan. She transferred to Europe in 2017 and became a full-time overseas collegiate faculty member in 2020. Primarily she teaches in the Master of Business Administration (MBA) program. Before joining UMGC, Kathy worked as an attorney representing businesses in litigation and as an in-house counsel for a multinational company.
Professor So's teaching philosophy is based on her core belief that education can open doors and should be a life-long pursuit. She takes a student-centered approach highlighting the importance of active learning. It is important to her to be able to connect classroom learning to real-world applications. As a student herself in UMGC’s DBA program, Kathy has special empathy for her students.
She is also committed to creating an inclusive and welcoming learning environment for all students, regardless of their background and abilities. As a member of UMGC Europe’s Diversity Counsel, she enjoys engaging and challenging students to present on DEI issues for the military community. Her scholarly interests include studying negotiations, cross-cultural issues, emotional intelligence, and cultural intelligence.
Professor So grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, but has lived in South Korea, Japan, and now Germany. She loves traveling with her family and trying different types of food. Fun fact: Kathy was once on a televised game show in South Korea and won a trip to China.
