P.D. Soros Fellowship for New Americans

MARGARET LEE is Assistant Professor, MSW Program, Department of Social Work at Azusa Pacific University. Margaret received her PhD in social welfare at UCLA and continues to specialize in mental health policies and programs for Asian communities. She was born in Glendale, CA to parents who had emigrated the previous year from South Korea.

As a student in the UCLA Honors Program, Maragret double majored in sociology and Asian American studies, graduating summa cum laude with election to Phi Beta Kappa. She then earned a master's degree in social work at UCLA. As a sophomore, she wrote her honors thesis examining the intersections of educational attainment and mental health within the Korean-American community, for which she received the Wasserman Fellowship and the UCLA Undergraduate Research Award. As a MSW student,she founded the International Social Work Caucus.

Margaret has two years of non-profit work in China and Indonesia.Since receiving her MSW, Margaret has served as a community organizer for Asian-Americans and American Indians, focusing on mental health issues.