Dr. Thomas L. Benson is the founder and Executive Director of the World Leadership Corps, an international service organization that was launched at Oxford University in 2005. Dr. Benson is the President Emeritus of Green Mountain College, an innovative institution that became New England’s first environmental liberal arts college during Dr. Benson’s tenure. Dr. Benson served for fifteen years as a professor of philosophy at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where he established and served as the first director of the Honors Program (now the Honors College). He is the co-founder of ASIANetwork, a national consortium of 200 liberal arts institutions, and he served as its first chair of the board of directors. Currently, he serves as the founding chair of the board of directors of the Africa Network and chair of the board of the Council for American Culture and Education (CACE). Dr. Benson is chair of the board of directors of the Myanmar Foundation. He publishes and speaks often on issues in philosophy and public policy, international education, and trends in higher education. Dr. Benson has graduate degrees from Harvard University and the Johns Hopkins University. He was twice a post-doctoral fellow at Yale University, and from 2005-2007, a visiting fellow at Oxford University, where he served as the founder and co-director of the World Education Institute in the James Martin School for the 21st Century.

Mrs. Delores J. Roeder, of South Haven, MN, is an active volunteer for the Elderhostel Service Projects and the Shoreland Volunteer Program sponsored by the University of Minnesota Extension Service, which is dedicated to restoring and protecting local water resources.

Mrs. Roeder received her B.A. in Sociology and Religious Education from Macalester College in St. Paul, MN. She also has a B.S. in Elementary Education from the University of Minnesota and completed course work for certification in teaching English as a Second Language at San Jose State University, San Jose, CA. She attended International Christian University for one year (1960-61) as a Junior Year Abroad student and later returned to attend the Summer Language Program.

She worked for the JICUF in New York after her graduation from Macalester College in 1962. When she returned to Minnesota, she joined the JICUF Women's Committee, and served in the Speaker's Bureau. In subsequent years when the family moved to New Jersey, Arkansas, back to Minnesota, and then to Arizona, California, and Massachusetts she remained active with the JICUF, serving on the Executive Committee of the Women's Planning Committee and as Vice Chair of the National Committee. She was instrumental in reactivating the ICU alumni group in Northern California.

Mrs. Roeder was elected to serve as a member of the JICUF Board of Directors in 1988, and served as its Secretary between 1998 and 2002. In 2002, she was elected to the position of Chair of the Board of Trustees.

Mr. Tellini is retired from a distinguished career as Business Manager at Ostrolenk, Faber, Gerb & Soffen, LLP, an intellectual property law firm in New York City. Previously, Mr. Tellini was an Administrator at Summit, Rovins and Feldesman on Park Avenue in New York City, as well as Administrator at LeBoeuf, Lamb, Leiby & McRae. Before that, he was Controller at Breed Abbott & Morgan, a corporate law firm. Mr. Tellini received his M.B.A. degree at City College, New York City, while working at Price Waterhouse and obtained his C.P.A. certificate. He served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army and received his B.S. degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University in 1955.

Mr. Raymond M. Cochran is recently retired from the position of Vice President of Finance & Administration at the Japan Society. Mr. Cochran, CPA, CIA, was formerly Director of Internal Audit at Columbia University. He holds a B.S. from Fairleigh Dickinson University and an M.B.A. from New York University.

Mr. Cochran was responsible for establishing the internal audit function at Columbia University in 1981, and continued in that position for 25 years. Previously he was an audit manager at KPMG Peat Marwick where he served higher education, healthcare, and other nonprofit clients. He also served for two years as an audit manager at Engelhard Minerals and chemicals corp.

Mr. Cochran is also very active in professional associations. He was the 1999-2000 President of the Association of College and University Auditors. For the year 2001-2002, he was President for the New York Chapter of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA). He has been on the New York Chapter Board since 1990.

Mr. Cochran has served as a member of the JICUF Board since 1985. During the years when the JICUF office was inactive, 1991 to 1997, he provided invaluable service to ensure the continuity and smooth operation of the Board. He was instrumental in the arrangement of the reopening of the JICUF office in 1997.

Dr. Benjamin Duke, at the age of 28, joined the International Christian University faculty in 1959 immediately upon receiving the Ph.D. from the Pennsylvania State University. Prior to that he served in the United States Army and taught for several years in the Hershey, Pennsylvania school system. He retired from ICU in 1997 as Emeritus Professor completing a thirty-eight year career as a full-time faculty member, followed by two years as a part-time member. During the forty years that he was affiliated with ICU, he devoted two years while on sabbatical leave to earn the Ph.D. at the University of London. Dr. Duke has published numerous books on Japanese education including THE JAPANESE SCHOOL, dedicated to his three children who received their entire basic education in Japanese public schools nearest ICU, and TEN GREAT EDUCATORS FROM MODERN JAPAN.

Among the most memorable nonacademic activities in which Dr. Duke participated during his four decades at ICU are those related to his many years as founder and Chairman of the ICU Environment Committee. In that capacity he was instrumental in launching the ICU International Forest in which twenty countries from the United States (Sequoia), the USSR (dogwood), to Iran contributed 250 trees most of which are growing at one sight on campus. In addition he witnessed the growth of over 450 Japanese maples he personally planted during a twenty year period, rendering the ICU campus a magnificant sight in the fall matching the cherry trees which line the ICU entrance that bloom in the spring. The other memorable activity was proposing, arranging, and escorting the 120-member ICU Symphony Orchestra on the first tour of the United States where highly acclaimed concerts were performed from Pomona College to Harvard University. Dr. Duke and his wife June have retired to the greater Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area where he is currently completing the first-ever manuscript in English on THE HISTORY OF MODERN JAPANESE EDUCATION: THE EARLY MEIJI CONNECTIONS.

David Janes is Director of Foundation Grants and Assistant to the President at the United States-Japan Foundation, where he directs the Education, Policy, and Communications grant portfolios. He specializes in promoting mutual understanding between Japan and the United States through the educational systems of both countries. During his tenure at the Foundation, Mr. Janes created the Elgin Heinz Outstanding Teacher Awards, a national award program for precollegiate educators who have demonstrated exemplary and innovative teaching on Japan, its language, and its culture. Mr. Janes is concurrently one of the first two University in Exile Fellows at The New School for Social Research where he is engaged in Ph.D. studies in Sociology.

Previously Mr. Janes served as Director of College and University Relations for the International Partnership for Service-Learning & Leadership, a not-for-profit international education organization, which develops and administers programs uniting academic study and community service internationally. In this capacity, Mr. Janes worked with colleges around the world to enhance their community service and service-learning programs, in addition to assisting in the development of the International Partnership’s programs in various counties.

Mr. Janes is a Board Member of the Mike and Maureen Mansfield Center at the University of Montana, a Board Member of Saeko Ichinohe and Company, Inc., a Scott M. Johnson Fellow of the United States-Japan Leadership Program and Fellow of the British-American Project, is a participant in the Pacific Forum/CSIS Young Leaders Program, was a Nakasone Scholar at the Aspen Institute and a Term Member at the Council on Foreign Relations, where he served on the Term Member Advisory Committee. He is a graduate of Leadership Westchester, a program for leaders in Westchester County, New York. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the Association for Asian Studies, the American Sociological Association, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, the Japan Society, the National Council for the Social Studies, and the American Academy of Religion.

After graduating Summa Cum Laude from Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia, Mr. Janes earned a Master of Arts degree in Asian Religions from the University of Hawaii. He then studied in the Department of Theology at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan, as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar. Mr. Janes is also a graduate of the Japan Center for Michigan Universities in Hikone, Japan. Most recently, Mr. Janes received a Master of Arts in International Affairs from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University as well as a Certificate in the Advanced Study of Nonviolent Conflict from the same institution.

Mitsuhiro "Mitch" Kaneda is Associate Dean and Director of Undergraduate Program at the School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University. Mitch received his BA and an MA in Public Administration from ICU, and a PhD in economics from the University of Pennsylvania. He teaches International Trade, and has won teaching awards including the School of Foreign Service Core Faculty Award. He has administered the International Economics and International Political Economy majors, being involved intensely in the curriculum and student advising. His research interests are in international trade theory and dynamic modeling, and he has published in the Journal of Economic Theory and the Journal of Development Economics.

Phyllis Larson is a Professor of Japanese and Asian Studies at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota.

Phyllis completed her Ph.D. in Japanese literature at the University of Minnesota in 1985. Previously, she completed an M.A. in English literature at the University, and an M.A.T. at the University of St. Thomas. Phyllis grew up in Japan and studied Japanese language at ICU. She has taught at St. Olaf College since 1993.

She publishes in the areas of language pedagogy and modern Japanese literary studies. On sabbatical in 2005-06, she studied Chinese language and researched writings by Japanese, such as Nogami Yaeko, Tamura Toshiko, and Uchiyama Kanzo, about China. Most recently, she presented a paper entitled "A Sino-Japanese Friendship in Wartime Shanghai: The Case of Lu Xun and Uchiyama Kanzo" at a conference at Lawrence University in October, 2006. This work builds on her sabbatical in 1999-2000, when she won a Fulbright Research Award for Japan. She also published "The Return of the 'Text': A Welcome Challenge for LCTs" in Modern Language Journal, Summer, 2006.

William E. Lesher is president emeritus of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Currently he is the chair the board of trustees of the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions, a trustee of the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia and the Japan ICU Foundation. He helped establish the Zygon Center for Science and Religion at LSTC and has been a strong supporter of Science and Religion programs at Parliament events. He has traveled extensively in Asia and Africa. He is an ordained minister in the Lutheran church, has served as president of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA and as pastor of Urban churches in St. Louis and Chicago. 

Anne Goodsell Love is Associate Provost for Assessment and Dean of Academic and Career Development at Wagner College. She is charged with merging the curricular and co-curricular programs of the College; accordingly she works with students and faculty to support learning in and out of the classroom. She is a part of the team of faculty and administrators who direct Wagner’s innovative learning communities' curriculum. Recently her responsibilities were expanded to include the coordination of college-wide assessment efforts. Before coming to Wagner College, Dr. Love was Assistant Dean of University College at The University of Akron. There, among other things, she created, administered, and taught in learning communities designed for first-year students taking developmental courses.

Dr. Love is Co-Director of the Atlantic Center for Learning Communities, a regional leadership network dedicated to supporting colleges and universities in their development of learning communities and other learner-centered pedagogies. Formerly, she was a Fellow of the National Learning Communities Project.   

Dr. Love is the editor of Collaborative Learning: A Sourcebook for Higher Education, co-author of Enhancing Student Learning: Intellectual, Social, and Emotional Integration, and has published articles and made many presentations related to the implementation and assessment of learning communities. She earned a B.S. in psychology at St. Lawrence University, a M.Ed. in Counselor Education from The Pennsylvania State University, and a Ph.D. in Higher Education from Syracuse University.

Samuel M. Shepherd is Managing Director of Shepherd & Associates based in Seattle, Washington.  From May 2004 through August 2009  he was President of the National Association of Japan-America Societies in Washington, DC. Previously, from 1994 until 2004, Mr. Shepherd was Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Japan-United States Educational Commission (the Fulbright Commission) based in Tokyo. During that period, he was an elected board member of the Japan Network for International Education and was appointed to the Central Council for Education by the Japanese Minister of Education. Mr. Shepherd was also a member of the National Institute for Academic Degrees & University Evaluation's Standing Committee for University Evaluation from 2000 until 2004 and chaired its Sub-Committee on International Exchange and Linkages.

Mr. Shepherd spent most of his first 19 years in Japan residing in Tokyo, Sapporo and Okinawa, He holds a BA in History from Point Loma University and as an East-West Center Grantee, earned an MA in Asian Studies from the University of Hawaii. He served in Daejon, South Korea for the U.S. Peace Corps and was a Fulbright Scholar to Japan (1973-74). Shortly thereafter, he began working for a Seattle based non-profit organization, Associates of Cultural Exchange, becoming its Executive Vice President, and was concurrently an Adjunct Professor at Seattle Pacific University.

In June of 2004, the Japanese Minister of Education, Culture, Sports & Technology awarded Mr. Shepherd a Commendation of Merit for his contributions to international education. He resides in the Seattle area with his wife Connie.

Dr. Curtis Tong's career as an educator followed service in the U.S. Air Force in 1959. He completed his undergraduate study at Otterbein College in 1956 and his Ph.D. at Ohio State University five years later. He served as a professor, basketball coach and physical education chair at Otterbein between 1963 and 1973. He joined Williams College the following year, again in the role of department chair and basketball coach. He answered Pomona College's call to serve as athletic director and professor of intensive writing in 1973 until his retirement in 1998.

During leaves of absence from the colleges he served, Tong taught in a number of other countries, including Ecuador, Philippines, Tanzania, China and Japan. His teaching experiences in Japan took place at ICU, where professors Duke and Shorrock became supportive friends.

Tong has enjoyed an active life in athletic participation as a member of the U.S. Friendship Cup team in its annual competition with Canada.

He has authored a book, Off the Bench, and numerous articles for publications, mostly related to ethics in athletics.

Dr. Tong is married to the former Wavalene "Jinx" Kumler and the couple has three children, two of whom are educators; the third serves as the Economic Coordinator for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the U.S. State Department in Washington DC.

Ms. Joan M. Uht, formerly of Maplewood, NJ, has been an active volunteer in her local community, after a career in the nonprofit world dedicated to social services and education. She served as Director of Development and Community Relations for Family Service of Morris County, Morristown, NJ, from 1989 to 1997 after two decades of training and consulting for various organizations including the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, Montclair State University and Junior Achievement of New York. Prior to her work in training and management consulting, Ms. Uht taught in the South Orange-Maplewood Public School District, served as Director and Teacher of a cooperative nursery school in Summit, NJ and was employed by EDA, Division of SONY, to teach English language at Ochanomizu Academy in Tokyo.

Ms. Uht brings a wide range of talents and abilities to the Japan ICU Foundation Board of Trustees, including educational advancement and fundraising, public relations and program development. She received her B.A. in English from Goucher College in Baltmore, MD and her M.A. (with commendation) in Education from Kean University in Union, NJ, where she received a Fellowship Grant from the American Association of University Women. She attended the Nauganuma School of Japanese Language in Tokyo for one year, and studied public relations at the New School in New York City.

Ms. Uht served on the boards of Arts Maplewood, and the Board of Trustees for Morrow Memorial Church, and The United Methodist Church Higher Education Foundation, (named as Trustee of the Year in 2008).

Since July 2009, she has been living in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

Chizuko was born and raised in Koshigoe, a small village in Kamakura. She graduated from ICU in 1988 and after working for an electronics company in Japan for a year, moved to England to study journalism at Leicester University and City University in London where she received her Masters of Arts. In the summer of 1997, Chizuko moved to New York City to continue her career as a journalist at Fujisankei Communications International. She is the President of the New York Metropolitan Alumni Association.

Yoko Fukaya is a Senior Researcher at New York Research Center of Daiwa Insitute of Research Ltd. Yoko conducts various research projects in alternative investment space which includes hedge funds and private equity. She started her financial career at Banking Department of S. G. Warburg in London. After obtaining her M.B.A. from Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, she joined the Investment Department of American International Group in New York. Yoko then structured various derivatives transactions for institutional investors at T.M.G. Financial Products in Greenwich, Connecticut and Bank of America in New York. Yoko also has a first-hand experience in working at a non-profit/multilateral organization at Asian Development Bank in Manila where she set up a swap desk, as well as participated in financial sector development projects in the Pacific Islands. Yoko received B.A. from International Christian University and has served as an Investment Committee member of JICUF since 2007.

Dr. Paul Gregory was President/Chairman of the JICUF Board from 1991 to 2000. He is one of the longest serving Board members of JICUF. Dr. Gregory is a retired missionary and mission board executive, now living in Lancaster, PA.

During his years of missionary service in Japan, Dr. Gregory was involved with the post war relief and reconstruction of Japan. He had a variety of contacts with faculty and students in International Christian University's first years.

In recognition of his outstanding service and contribution, Dr. Gregory was awarded an L.H.D. by ICU in 1979, D.D. by Eden Theological Seminar (1980), and L.L.D. by Tohoku Gakuin University in Sendai, Japan (1986).

Dr. Clifford Hill is the Arthur I. Gates Professor of Language and Education Emeritus at Columbia University Teachers College. He has also directed the Program in African Languages at the Institute of African Studies in the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs.

Dr. Hill has served widely as a consultant to language and literacy programs in many parts of the world, especially in Africa and Asia. He earned a B.A. (1961) in philosophy from Wheaton College, an M.A. (1963) in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University and a Ph.D. (1971) in African Languages and Literature from the University of Wisconsin.

Dr. J. Edward (Ted) Kidder is Professor Emeritus of International Christian University (ICU). Dr. Kidder was born in China. After receiving his B.A. from Maryville College, Tennessee, he served three years in the U.S. Army, 1943-46. He obtained his M.A. (1949) and Ph.D. (1955) from New York University. In the meantime, he also studied for a year at Ecole du Louvre, Paris (1949-50). 

Dr. Kidder taught at ICU from 1956-1993 and held various posts there, including Chair of the Humanities Division, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, Vice President of Academic Affairs, Director of the ICU Hachiro Yuasa Memorial Museum, and Director of the ICU Archaeology Research Center.

Mr. Junji Kitadai is a freelance writer for Japanese publications and a consultant in media and journalism.

Born in Kochi, Japan, Mr. Kitadai was one of the first students to be associated with ICU. In 1952, he enrolled in International Christian University's Language Institute and in 1953 he entered as a regular student in the College of Liberal Arts. He graduated with a B.A. in 1957, majoring in Social Psychology.

Mr. Kitadai has recently moved back to Japan from Scarsdale, New York, where he had resided for many years.

Liza B. McGuckin served as the first Director of Development for the Japan ICU Foundation, from 2002 to 2004.  She then returned to her native California, where she had earned her M.A. in International Affairs with a focus on Japan at the University of California, San Diego in 2002.  In San Diego, she has been both a foundation grant maker and nonprofit fund raiser. However, no role has been as rewarding as her current one of “stay-at-home mom” to her toddler son. Liza earned her B.A. in Religion from Swarthmore College, and attended the Fundraising Management Program at Columbia University.

Kurt W. Roeloffs, Jr. is Asia Pacific Head of RREEF at Deutsche Asset Investment Management Americas where he has been responsible for equity investments. Kurt previously was a Managing Director of Bankers Trust's Real Estate Investment Banking Group where he completed several mergers, equity and debt assignments and founded its Asian business. Kurt began his career at Trammell Crow Company as a commercial real estate developer. Mr. Roeloffs received his B.A. from Columbia College and earned his MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Professor Smith received his B.A. from Yale University in 1962, and his Ph.D. from Harvard University, in 1970. He previously taught at Princeton University and the University of California, Santa Barbara, and has been at Columbia since 1988. He is a professor of Japanese History in the Department of East Asian Languages & Cultures, and director of the Kyoto Consortium of Japanese Studies, a study-abroad program in Kyoto administered by Columbia. His courses have included "Buildings and Cities in Japanese History, "Chushingura and the Samurai Tradition" and "Pilgrimage and Sacred Space in Japanese History." He has written widely on Japanese woodblock prints, the history of Edo-Tokyo, and the Chushingura story.

John Coventry Smith, Jr. is an attorney and a member of the Maryland and District of Columbia Bar. Mr. Smith was a partner at Benoit, Smith & Laughlin (1970-1994) when he retired. Mr. Smith has been keenly interested in International Christian University since it was first conceived, even before WW II. His father, Dr. John Coventry Smith, Sr., was actively engaged in the founding of ICU and served as the first Vice President of JICUF. The first several donated trees planted on the ICU campus were given by his father and mother to remember the births of Mr. Smith, his sibling and his sons Arthur and David. He was born in Tokyo, Japan, of Presbyterian missionary parents.

Mr. Toshiaki "Tag" Taguchi was President and CEO of Toyota Motor North America (TMA), headquartered in New York City, from June 2000 until June 2004 and is now Senior Advisor to the Board. Mr. Taguchi joined Toyota in 1964 upon graduating from International Christian University. 

Active in both the Japanese and American communities in New York, Mr. Taguchi is a member of the Board of Directors of the Japan Society, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of New York and The Nippon Club.

Mr. Takeshi Ueshima is a Principal of Heritage Fund Management, LLC in New York, which specializes in alternative investments for institutional investors and high net worth individuals. In addition, Mr. Ueshima has served as a member of the International Committee of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a Fellow of UK World Fellowship, a Scott M. Johnson Fellow of the U.S.-Japan Leadership Program, Treasurer of Tanaka Memorial Foundation, and as a director for various other groups. 

Mr. Ueshima holds a B.A. in Economics from Fordham University, where he graduated in 1988. He started his financial career at the Sumitomo Trust & Banking Company Ltd in Tokyo. Mr. Ueshima also worked for UBS (formally Paine Webber, Inc.) in New York for five years.

L. Mark Weeks, Esq., is currently a partner in the Tokyo office of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP. Mr. Weeks, as a corporate and technology partner of the law firm.

Mr. Weeks graduated from International Christian University in 1984, and went on to earn his J.D. from Fordham University School of Law in 1988. He lived in Japan for nearly eight years and is fluent in Japanese.

Steve Yamaguchi was born in Long Beach, California and was a One Year Regular student at ICU from 1984-1985.  He received his B.A. in Political Science and Japanese from Stanford University in 1986 and his J.D. and a Certificate in International Law from Columbia Law School in 1989. 

Steve is currently University Counsel at the University of Southern California’s Office of the General Counsel where he handles a variety of transactions and contract negotiations for various Schools and Departments within the University.  Steve also teaches a contract drafting and negotiating class to foreign students at the USC Law School.  Prior to joining USC, Steve practiced for 10 years with private law firms in Los Angeles and Tokyo.