Kwon, Myoung-ja Lee

Myoung-ja Lee Kwon was born in 1943 on the grounds of the Kyongbok Palace in Korea. Her father’s occupation as a university professor which gave the family a higher status and allowed them to live in a state of prosperity. But war changed these circumstances. In 1965, after graduating from Seoul National University, Kwon got married and moved to the United States of America, where a year later she earned a Master’s degree in Library Science from Provo, Utah. Her first professional position was at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) as a cataloguer and slowly became interim dean of UNLV libraries.

In 2001, Kwon retired from UNLV and took the job of Dean of Libraries at California State East Bay Library, retiring in 2008. During a visit to Korea in 2009, she presented information to graduate students at the Sookmyong Women’s University Library and Information Science division. Since Kwon grew up in libraries, it is fitting that the family’s name graces a room in UNLV Lied Library. The Han-San Lee Faculty Lounge was named in honor of the Han-San Lee Endowment.