Bok-Lim Choi Kim ’54, a pioneering advocate for Asian women, died on Jan. 16, 2025, in Los Angeles, California.
A native of Korea, Kim and her mother were taken prisoner during the Korean War. Kim was released after a few days, but her mother disappeared and was never seen again. Kim later became an interpreter for the U.S. Air Force, and an American chaplain arranged for her to attend Cornell College. While at Cornell, she was active in student organizations—the Tri Phis, the Sociology Club, and the International Relations Club—and earned a sociology degree.
She received her master’s in social work in 1956 and returned to Korea, where she taught in a university’s social work department and founded a child guidance clinic there. She later continued her education and emigrated to the U.S. in 1965, where she worked in higher education for much of her career.
Kim was a dedicated advocate and researcher focused on improving the lives of Asian women in the U.S. and abroad. She published and led workshops on working with Asian immigrants and spoke out internationally against the exploitation of women and children in Asia. Her study, “Women in the Shadows,” examined the lives of Asian women married to American servicemen. Her work has been widely published in both Korean and English and presented to diverse audiences. Kim is survived by her son, Stan Kim.