Jordan Matsudaira, a Sylff fellow at the University of Michigan in the early 2000s, has been appointed a senior economist at the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) to advise President Barack Obama on education, labor, and immigration issues.

The council is the president’s primary source of objective research and recommendations on domestic and international fiscal policy.

Matsudaira began his one-year term in Washington, D.C., on August 1, 2013. He is on leave from Cornell University, where he is an assistant professor of policy analysis and management.

He received a Sylff fellowship while in the Economics Department of the University of Michigan, where he earned his PhD in economics and public policy in 2005.

His academic work has focused on the effects of education, health, and welfare policies on the behavior and well-being of vulnerable populations, such as immigrants.

We wish Dr. Matsudaira the best of luck in his new post, where his work is expected to have a direct impact on national policy.

For more details, see: http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2013/06/matsudaira-named-white-house-council-economic-advisers

Yajun, third from left

Liu Yajun, a Sylff fellow at Nanjing University, visited the Tokyo Foundation on July 26, 2013. Yajun was awarded the second prize in a contest among 60 universities in China on knowledge concerning the Japanese language and culture. Her prize was a trip to Japan, during which she visited the Foundation.

Yajun said that she began studying Japanese after she entered university. Her fluency and deep knowledge of Japan was highly impressive. Upon receiving the award, Yajun wrote, “It is at times when the China-Japan relationship is difficult that we should promote exchange. Cultural exchange has the power to overcome all difficulties.”

The Tokyo Foundation is very proud of Yajun’s accomplishments and will continue to support outstanding fellows like her.

From left to right, Naoto Onzo, Ryosuke Takai, Junji Kawashima, Mari Suzuki

Two Waseda University graduate students were presented with Sylff fellowships during a ceremony held at a hall commemorating university founder Shigenobu Okuma on July 3, 2013. The fellowship recipients for the 2013 academic year were Ryosuke Takai, who is in the fourth year of a doctoral program at the Graduate School of Political Science, and Junji Kawashima, a third-year doctoral student at the Graduate School of Social Sciences.

“Our university, which has a history of over 130 years, seeks to further enhance its presence in the international community,” noted Naoto Onzo, the university’s executive director for research promotion and the chairman of the Sylff steering committee. “We also hope to nurture highly capable human resources demonstrating academic excellence and personal integrity who can make a positive contribution to societies around the globe. I hope that the two recipients this year will utilize their fellowships to fully advance their research and become true leaders for international society, as the name of the Young Leaders program suggests.”

Ryosuke Takai, who is undertaking a comparative analysis of the process of democratization and the spread of the rule of law in Asian and African countries, said he hoped that development models based on his research findings may contribute to the further democratization of countries in these regions.

Junji Kawashima, who is studying the institutional development and the legitimacy of change during the 1978–2012 reign of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, commented, “I will devote my energies to research and hone my leadership skills so that those who endorsed me for the fellowship will be glad they did so.”

Attending the ceremony from the Tokyo Foundation was Director for Leadership Development Mari Suzuki, who expressed the hope that the new fellows would take advantage of Sylff’s global network to advance both their academic pursuits and personal development.

2013-1 Awardees

The Tokyo Foundation is pleased to announce six new recipients of the Sylff Research Abroad (SRA) award in the first selection round for fiscal 2013 (click here). All successful applicants cleared a rigorous screening process with meticulously planned proposals to incorporate their research findings into their PhD dissertations. Of the six recipients, three will travel to the field to learn from primary sources how people have adapted to changing environments.

SRA provides a wonderful opportunity for current or past Sylff fellowship recipients to conduct academic research in a foreign country to enhance the quality of their doctoral dissertation. Sixty-two applicants have been awarded grants of up to US$5,000 since the program’s relaunch in 2011.

Short articles submitted by the recipients based on their SRA research can be read here. In addition, selected articles have been posted on the “Voices from the Sylff Community” page and will subsequently be published in a print booklet.

The deadline for the second selection round for fiscal 2013 is January 12, 2014. We look forward to receiving your applications!

The University of Athens celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Sylff program in Greece on May 20, 2013. The University became the forty-seventh member of the Sylff community in May 1993. Since then, the program has supported nearly 260 graduate students in the humanities and social sciences. The anniversary ceremony was held at the university’s Great Hall of Ceremonies.

Mr. Panagiotopoulos

The celebration opened with addresses by representatives of all parties involved in the Sylff program at Athens. They included Professor Theodosios Pelegrinis, rector of the university; Professor Theodore Liakakos, vice rector and chairman of the Sylff steering committee; Mr. Ioannis Panagiotopoulos, a Sylff alumni and secretary general of Mass Media of the Greek government; Mr. Yohei Sasakawa, chairman of the Nippon Foundation—donor of the Sylff endowment—and Mr. Takashi Suzuki, director for leadership development of the Tokyo Foundation.

The university expressed its appreciation for the Sylff program and vowed to continue nurturing future leaders through the program over the next 20 years, just as it has in the preceding two decades. Mr. Sasakawa remarked on the qualities a leader should have, reflecting on his personal encounters with leprosy patients and his lifelong dedication since then to supporting them. Noting that we unconsciously tend to notice only those things what we choose to see and hear, he said that leaders must make a persistent effort to see and address hidden problems for global peace and well-being. His speech provided valuable insights for all in attendance.

Another thought-provoking speech was made by Professor Emeritus Demetrios B. Papoulias. Entitled “Leadership in Times of Crisis,” the keynote speech outlined the leadership required to overcome the financial crisis, highlighting the importance of acting responsibly and remaining in touch with social realities.

Mr.Yohei Sasakawa

Four fellows shared their experiences and views regarding the Sylff program: Dr. Manolis Patiniotis, professor in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Athens; Mr. Loukas Spanos, a scientific advisor for the Greek Parliament, a representative of the Greek Sylff Fellows Association, and a member of the Sylff steering committee; Mr. Christopher Lees, a doctoral student in linguistics; and Ms. Alexandra Bousiou, a doctoral student in political sciences and public administration.

They commented that the Sylff program not only provided financial support for their academic study but also raised their awareness of the value of diversity, raised their motivation, and connected them to a global network of fellows in diverse disciplines and countries. By supporting students in the humanities, they noted, the program also supported the value of the humanities in contemporary society, which often places a higher value on practical subjects. It was evident from the fellow’s speeches that the aims of the Sylff program were being realized through their actions.

The Sylff program at Athens has not always been smooth over the past two decades. Recently, it was adversely affected by the Lehman crisis and the national debt crisis. However, despite these difficulties, a newly constituted Sylff steering committee has now managed to put the program back on track through new financial management measures and renewed procedures for program implementation. As a result, the program continues to support outstanding graduate students today. The 20th anniversary ceremony fully demonstrated that the program has a firm base on which to prosper and to develop future leaders for many years to come.

The 20th anniversary ceremony at the University of Athens