Gerald L. Curtis became Chair of the Foundation’s Board of Directors in 2019. He is also Burgess Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Columbia University, former Director of Columbia’s Weatherhead East Asian Institute, and Distinguished Research Fellow at the Tokyo Foundation.
Professor Curtis is the author of numerous books and articles written in both English and Japanese including Seiji to Sanma-Nihon to Kurashite 45 nen (Politics and Saury: 45 Years Living with Japan), The Logic of Japanese Politics, The Japanese Way of Politics, and Election Campaigning Japanese Style. His columns appear frequently in newspapers and journals around the globe. Fluent in Japanese, he is a frequent guest on Japan’s Sunday morning news discussion programs.
Professor Curtis has held appointments at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, London; the College de France, Paris; the Lee Kwan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore; and in Tokyo at Keio, Tokyo, and Waseda University, the Research Institute for Economy, Trade and Industry, the Graduate Research Institute for Policy Studies, and the International Institute for Economic Studies.
Professor Curtis is the recipient of numerous prizes and honors including the Chunichi Shimbun Special Achievement Award, the Masayoshi Ohira Memorial Prize, the first Marshall Green Award of the Japan-America Society of Washington D.C. and the Eagle on the World Award of the Japan Chamber of Commerce of New York. In 2001 he was awarded the distinguished Japan Foundation Award and in 2004 he was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star by the Emperor of Japan, one of the highest honors bestowed by the Japanese government.
Professor Curtis has served as Director of the U.S.-Japan Parliamentary Exchange Program, Special Advisor to the President of Newsweek for Newsweek Japan, member of the Board of Advisors to the Japan Foundation, the U.S.-Japan Foundation, and the American Academy of Political Science, and member of the International Advisory Board of the Asahi Shimbun. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Japan Society and the Japan Center for International Exchange (USA), and a Councilor to the U.S.-Japan Council. Professor Curtis received his PhD from Columbia University.