Presentation of the Legion of Honor to Dr. Myung Sonoda [fr]

Born in South Korea and arrived in the United States in 1958, Myung Sonoda began her career as a physician. After graduating from Tulane University in Louisiana, she moved to New York State where she practiced as an obstetrician. As the head of a practice in Brooklyn, Myung Sonoda assists thousands of women during childbirth.

But if her vocation to serve others is reflected in her profession as a physician, it is also manifested through her strong interest in educational issues.
Her husband, Mr. Koji Sonoda, is also very much involved in this field, since in 1986 he bought a school, the Lyceum Kennedy.

Noting that many families, in particular the Japanese ones, are forced to split up when their children are transferred to other countries so that they can continue their studies, he decided to set up a school offering courses in English and Japanese.

Mr. Sonoda quickly realized that this dilemma was not exclusively Japanese, but that the French community in New York was experiencing the same difficulty and needed the same service. From then on, Koji Sonoda dedicated himself to the creation and successful development of new bilingual classes.

While Myung Sonoda continued to pursue her medical career for nearly twenty years, her interest in her husband’s project grew over time.

In 2005, when Koji Sonoda died of cancer, the question of whether or not to take over Lyceum Kennedy was raised.
Always driven by the desire to be useful, convinced of the merits of the project, a true "bridge between cultures" and eager to perpetuate the work of her late husband, Myung Sonoda chose to devote herself fully to the direction of the school.

Through this courageous choice, she offered many children and teenagers the opportunity to pursue their education in a multicultural and bilingual school, where nearly 40 different nationalities are represented, a source of growth and open-mindedness.

Today, Lyceum Kennedy remains an excellent school with a French-American program and is one of eight schools recognized by the Agency for French Education Abroad in New York.

Myung Sonoda’s work, in the footsteps of her husband Koji Sonoda, is a major help to the French-speaking community in New York and a wonderful example of dialogue between cultures.