John Lie is Class of 1959 Professor of sociology and Dean of International and Area Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. His principal academic interests are social theory, political economy, social identity, and East Asia.

Lie was born in 1959 in Seoul, South Korea. He grew up in Tokyo, Japan, and Honolulu, Hawaii. After graduating from Punahou School, he attended Harvard University (A.B., Social Studies, 1982; Ph.D., Sociology, 1988). He has held tenured appointments at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and the University of Michigan, as well as holding visiting appointments at Yonsei University, Keio University, Harvard University, and other institutions.

Lie's "sociological imagination" trilogy explores the intersection of biography, history, and social structure by analyzing his Korean diasporic experience. The trilogy comprises Blue Dreams: Korean Americans and the Los Angeles Riots, Han Unbound: The Political Economy of South Korea, and Multiethnic Japan. These books have transformed our understanding of topics ranging from ethnic conflict and economic growth to the nature of contemporary Japanese society. The latest addition is "Zainichi (Koreans in Japan): Diasporic Nationalism and Postcolonial Identity." He is a widely cited and quoted authority on the Korean diaspora.