Dr. CHEN Wei-Fen received her PhD in Communications and Media from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2016. Then she joined HKUST Institute for Emerging Market Studies (IEMS) as a Post-doctoral Fellow. Since August 2017, she has been concurrently appointed by HKUST Jockey Club Institute for Advanced Study (IAS). Her research focuses on consumer culture and social stratification, particularly in regard to the psychographic and demographic features and consumption practices of individuals experiencing upward/downward social mobility. Her recent project examines the consumer behavior of the globally-mobile millennials from emerging markets. She was a recipient of the Fulbright Fellowship, the S Watson and Elizabeth S Dunn Fellowship, and the Dissertation Completion Fellowship from the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange. Previously, she has served as a government officer in Taiwan, specializing in press liaison and media strategy.

Dr. Chen worked with Prof. Albert PARK.