Ora Orn Poocharoen

Dr. Ora-orn is the founding Director of the School of Public Policy at Chiang Mai University (spp.cmu.ac.th) (Jan 2018 to present). She is a former United Nation’s Committee of Experts for Public Administration (CEPA) (Jan 2018 – July 2021). She was an Assistant Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore between 2007-2016. Her current research interests are in public policy, public management, sustainable governance, wellbeing and the public sector.

She has spearheaded numerous workshops on strategic foresight covering topics from higher education, travelling, innovation landscape, to Thailand’s governance systems. Her organization has developed and executed foresight training programs that blend critical approaches, complexity thinking, creativity, and design thinking to strategic foresight. Her work aims to influence policy-makers and public officials to adopt new mindsets to be more open to new possibilities. She is on the Visionary Board for the Asia Pacific Futures Network (APFN) and is a guest editor for a special issue of the Journal of Future Studies. She holds a PhD in Public Administration from the Maxwell School, Syracuse University.

Companies

• Director Chiang Mai University School of Public Policy (2018)
• Adjunct Associate Professor National University of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (2015)
• Dean Chiang Mai University, Faculty of Political Science and Public Administration (2015 — 2017)
• Assistant Professor National University of Singapore (2007 — 2015)
• Lecturer Chulalongkorn University (2003 — 2007)

Education

• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Syracuse University - Maxwell School (2000 — 2005)
• Master's degree The University of Tokyo (1998 — 2000)
• Bachelor's degree Hitotsubashi University (1994 — 1998)
• International Baccalaureate Pearson College UWC (1990 — 1992)