IUC Community
OUR COMMUNITY
Scholarship, Leadership, Public Service
Over the last 60+ years, IUC alumni have had an indelible influence on the field of Japanese studies, garnering numerous awards and achievements in higher education, diplomacy, business, art, and philanthropy, including 21 Orders of the Rising Sun and over 1,500 published books. Meet some of the IUC graduates at the forefront of U.S.-Japan relations in academia, the arts, entertainment, and government.
Robert Campbell (’80) has served as University Professor at Waseda University since 2021 and is also advisor for The Waseda International House of Literature (The Haruki Murakami Library). He received his Ph.D. from the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University and moved to Japan in 1985, where he was appointed assistant professor at Kyushu University and subsequently associate professor at the National Institute of Japanese Literature. He rose to a professorship at University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and in April 2017, he was appointed as the Director-General of the National Institute of Japanese Literature. |
Susan J. Pharr (’71) is the Edwin O. Reischauer Professor of Japanese Politics Emerita whose research has explored the social basis for democracy with a particular focus on Japan and East Asia. She is Senior Advisor of the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She has also served as Commissioner of the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission. In 2016, she received the Japan Foundation Prize for her contribution to Japanese Studies. |
Alan Poul (’75) is a distinguished producer and director of film and television who across his career has received an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Producers Guild Award, three Peabody Awards and five GLAAD Awards. His feature film producing credits include Paul Schrader’s Mishima and Light of Day, and Ridley Scott’s Black Rain. Television credits include "Six Feet Under," where he made his directing debut, "Tales of the City," and "The Newsroom." Poul is the executive producer and director of the Max original series "Tokyo Vice." |
Ambassador Kurt W. Tong (’86) is Managing Partner at The Asia Group, where he leads the firm’s work in Japan and the broader East Asia region. Before joining The Asia Group, Ambassador Tong served as Consul General and Chief of Mission in Hong Kong and Macau, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic and Business Affairs at the State Department, the Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy in Tokyo, Ambassador for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, and as Director for Asian Affairs during the George W. Bush Administration. His overseas postings also include Beijing, Seoul, and Manila. |
To learn more about IUC alumni, check out the IUC Alumni Talks, a web series organized by the alumni-led IUC Events Committee. |
Meet the Volunteers Serving on Our Leadership Board
The Leadership Board exists to foster the continuing welfare of both the IUC and its alumni by promoting mutually beneficial interaction, by sustaining a sense of community among alumni, and by contributing to the long-term health of IUC. The Leadership Board also leads alumni and friends to support the IUC in meaningful ways and each member sets an example by their own involvement and support.
Leadership Board Members
Andrew Hazelton (’05), Mr. Hazelton is currently Sr. Manager, Vision Engineering at Intuitive Surgical. Previously he was Product Manager, then Director of Engineering at Nanometrics (2010-2015). Prior to joining Nanometrics, Mr. Hazelton was Executive Staff at Nikon Corporation, Precision Equipment Company (2005-2010). Mr. Hazelton was also the Director of Mechanical Engineering at Nikon Research Corporation of America (1996-2004) and a Member of Technical Staff at Sandia National Laboratories (1990-1996). Mr. Hazelton holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Cornell University and a Masters in Manufacturing Systems Engineering from Stanford University (’92).
Carl Taeusch (’67) attended the Center with the class of 1967 as an undergraduate at Princeton, and went on to obtain his PhD in Far Eastern Languages and Literatures from the University of Michigan under Edward Seidensticker and Robert Brower. From 1973 to 1977, he taught Japanese language and literature at the University of Rochester. After obtaining his JD from Columbia Law School in 1980, he began his career of 28 years as a lawyer and executive in the pharmaceutical industry, including 17 years in Japan with Merck, PhRMA, Pharmacia, and Johnson & Johnson, holding various positions in legal and government affairs.
David Evans (’79) is a prominent research scientist, entrepreneur, and inventor in the field of computational linguistics and information technology. He was Professor of Linguistics and Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University (1983–1996); Founder, CEO, and Chief Scientist of Clairvoyance Corporation (1992–2009); and Chief Scientist and Director, Advanced Technology Innovation, JustSystems Corporation (1996–2009). JustSystems’s ConceptBase Search — based on his CLARIT technology — won the “Software Product of the Year” award from the Japanese government in 1998. David received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Stanford University. He has been awarded 25 U.S. patents. He is a Fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and the Association for Psychological Science (APS).
Hazen Moore (’80) is currently President and Managing Member of Zenmu Consulting LLC. He is engaged in consulting work for Japan-based clients regarding U.S. legal developments, and trending business and political issues. Hazen is admitted to the practice of law in the State of New York, having practiced corporate/finance law in New York City for 12 years, and having headed the law departments of financial institutions in Tokyo for over 20 years. Hazen earned a master's degree (法学修士号) and completed the coursework for a doctorate degree (法学博士号) during his five years of legal studies at Kyoto University (京都大学法学部).
Hobart Birmingham (’66) is Managing Director of The Perreault Birmingham Group LLC, a boutique investment bank located in Silicon Valley, serving smaller and medium size technology companies. He also has served on the board of directors of one public company (Optical Communication Products, Inc. 2002-2007) and two private technology companies (Schilling Robotics, Inc. 2008-2012; and Finelite, Inc. 2013-2017), each of which was sold in a successful M&A transaction. Before becoming an investment banker, he was an executive and in-house counsel, working as general counsel and CAO of Borland Software, and before that as Associate General Counsel for International of Apple. He has also been a partner in two law firms, principally in San Francisco, Palo Alto and Tokyo, where he specialized in business, finance, M&A, and international transactions.
Larry Bates (’85) is recently retired and previously served as Executive Officer, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Chief Risk Officer of Panasonic Corporation, based in Osaka and resident in Tokyo. He was the first non-Japanese to be elevated to Panasonic’s Board of Directors in the 100-year history of the company. Larry was originally admitted to the New York Bar in 1987, where he started his career engaged in corporate transactions with the New York law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. He has spent the past 35 years working in the legal profession in Japan, China and Hong Kong. At GE, where he spent 22 years of his career, he served in key legal leadership positions in the Asia region, including as General Counsel for each of GE Medical Systems Asia, GE Capital Japan and GE Japan. Prior to joining Panasonic, Larry held the position of Senior Managing Director, Executive Officer and General Counsel of LIXIL Group Corporation, based in Tokyo, for four years. Larry graduated summa cum laude from Yale University with a B.A. in East Asian Studies and Economics, and he received his J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Martha Debs (’80) is a recently retired business communications consultant. From 1984 to 2011, she worked for McKinsey & Company, based first in Tokyo and later in the Benelux. She provided communications training, coaching, and support to consultants and clients in Japan and across Western and Eastern Europe, including long-term McKinsey Global Institute assignments and secondment to newly established McKinsey offices in the former Soviet bloc. Since going freelance in 2011, she maintained her ties with McKinsey by serving as faculty for consultant training programs in Europe and the U.S., and as a sounding board for new communications initiatives in the firm. Prior to her McKinsey career, Martha spent two years as editor and foreign press liaison for trading company Nissho Iwai in Tokyo. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of California, Davis, with a B.A. in Spanish Language & Literature and East Asian Studies, and earned an M.A. in Asian Studies from the University of California, Berkeley.
Oliver Chubb (’89) has founded several businesses in Japan and the United States over the past twenty-five years achieving several successful exits. He currently serves on the boards of pre-IPO companies in Japan and advises others. He graduated magna cum laude from Yale University with a B.A. in East Asian Studies and received the Francis Gordon Brown Prize for class Scholar/Sportsman. After Yale, he attended the IUC in its first year in Yokohama. He then worked for the trading company Nissho Iwai in Tokyo and served as a policy aide to the then Minister of the Environment, Aichi Kazuo, in the Kaifu Cabinet. Upon returning to the US, he earned an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business (Arjay Miller Scholar) and an M.A. from Stanford’s Center for East Asian Studies. Following his studies at Stanford, Oliver spent several years at Booz Allen & Hamilton, driving projects involving mergers, new business development, and deregulation in the energy sector.
Peter Stern (’93) is Director, Content Policy Stakeholder Engagement at Meta, currently based in the London office. Content Policy is responsible for writing and interpreting global policies governing what users can share on Meta’s platforms. Peter leads a stakeholder engagement team that builds relationships around the world with NGOs, academics, and other thought leaders, and that incorporates external feedback into Meta’s content policy development process. Prior to joining Facebook in 2014, Peter was a partner at the San Francisco law firm of Morrison & Foerster, where he specialized in international litigation and spent more than 11 years in his firm’s Tokyo office. He holds a B.A. from Amherst College and an M.A. (History) and J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.
Sarah Lubman (’85) is a writer and strategic communications advisor. In 2019, she joined SoftBank Group as Partner, Corporate Communications, to support the communications strategy and initiatives of SoftBank and its global portfolio of companies, going on to serve as Acting Chief Communications Officer until 2021. Previously, she was a Partner at Brunswick Group, where she specialized in the telecom, media and technology sectors. At Brunswick, Sarah provided counsel on a wide range of transactions and high-stakes situations, including cross-border M&A, crisis management and litigation. Her clients included J-Power, Japan Tobacco, Toyota, WeWork, Etsy, Blue Apron and AT&T. Before joining Brunswick in 2005, Sarah was a journalist for 17 years, including 6 years based in Asia.
Seth Sulkin (’91) has served as President & CEO of Pacifica Capital K.K. since founding the company in 1995 and has built up a long track record of innovative development projects and creative financing techniques. He has also served as an advisor to some of the world’s leading institutional investors, banks and retailers. In addition to running Pacifica’s development business, he is also an active leader in key industry organizations such as Urban Land Institute, American Chamber of Commerce in Japan and Skal International. Seth received his master’s degree from Stanford University.
Meet IUC Alumni Honorees
Established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji, the Order of the Rising Sun is Japan’s first national decoration. It is conferred on behalf of the Emperor of Japan as one of the highest honors bestowed by the Japanese government on those who have rendered distinguished service to Japan. Twenty-one IUC graduates have received this honorary recognition and been awarded the Order of the Rising Sun. Learn about them here.
Gold and Silver Star | |
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| Gerald L. Curtis (’65) Richard Samuels (’78) |
Gold Star with Neck Ribbon | |
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| Theodore Bestor (’75) Mary C. Brinton (’78) Kent Calder (’75) John Campbell (’66) Andrew Gordon (’74) Ellis Kraus (’69) Fred Notehelfer (’65) Daniel Okimoto (’63) Susan Pharr (’71) Kenneth B. Pyle (’61) Emily Sano (’64) |
Gold Rays with Rosette | |
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| Bruce Brenn (’63) Timothy Thorburn Clark (’85) Louise Allison Cort (’68) David W. Hughes (’70) Jacob Kovalio (’74) Phyllis Lyons (’68) Susan Jun Onuma (’78) |
Silver Rays | |
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| Catherine Marie Jonak (’84) |
A Rich History of Writing
Since IUC's founding, its alumni have produced an impressive catalog of diverse and high-quality publications, featuring over 1500 works and over 90 award-winning books. Topics include anime, anthropology, art, business, economics, education, history, literature, media, medicine, politics, and technology, as well as the Asia-Pacific region and the Japanese-American experience.
Select Recent Works
| Freedman, Alisa, ed. Women in Japanese Studies: Memoirs from a Trailblazing Generation. New York: Columbia University Press, 2023. Includes memoirs by Margaret Lock (IUC ’73), Phyllis I. Lyons (IUC ’68), Susan B. Hanley (IUC ’65), Mary Elizabeth Berry (IUC ’70), Patricia G. Steinhoff (IUC ’64), Phyllis Birnbaum (IUC ’73), Susan J. Pharr (IUC ’71), Kate Wildman Nakai (SC ’62), Juliet Winters Carpenter (IUC ’70), Eleanor Kerkham (SC ’62), and Barbara Sato (IUC ’78). “Brings together trailblazing women scholars from diverse disciplines in Japanese Studies to reflect on their careers and offer advice to colleagues. Women of this generation were among the first scholars to use Japanese source materials in research published in English and the first foreigners to study at Japanese universities.” |
| Miyake, Lynne K. (IUC ’76). The Tale of Genji through Contemporary Manga: Challenging Gender and Sexuality in Japan. London: Bloomsbury, 2024. “This groundbreaking study examines the unlikely merger of two Japanese cultural phenomena, an 11th-century aristocratic text and contemporary manga comics. It explores the ways in which the manga versions of The Tale of Genji use gender, sexuality, and desire to challenge perceptions of reading and readership, morality and ethics, and what is translatable from one culture to another.” |
| Dunscomb, Paul (IUC ’98). The Crisis in Pro Baseball and Japan’s Lost Decade: The Curious Resilience of Heisei Japan. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2023. “The story of this crisis reveals much about the Japanese psyche during the “Lost Decade,” about the nature of change during Heisei Japan and of the nation’s resilience. The business of professional baseball provides crucial insights as it achieved its basic form at the same time as Japan’s postwar political economy, and shared many characteristics with it, including systemic inefficiencies that post-‘bubble’ Japan could no longer sustain.” |