He received his B.S. degree at Seoul National University in Korea in 1989, and received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at Stanford University in 1993. From 1993 and 1999, he was a senior research engineer at Hanwha Chemical Corporation in Korea. Prior to joining Cornell in 2001, Yong Lak Joo did two years of a postdoctoral research in the Department of Chemical Engineering at MIT. His research focuses on the integration of molecular details into a macroscopic level in polymeric materials processing. He received a 3M Faculty Award in 2004. He is also a recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER Award and a DuPont Young Professor Award. He also received an Excellence in Teaching Award in College of Engineering, Cornell University.