The U.S. CULCON Panel today announced that five Japan specialists and scholars will become new members of the bi-national panel.  They are:  Dr. Edward Lincoln, Professorial Lecturer, George Washington University; Dr. Patricia Maclachlan, Associate Professor of Government and Asian Studies, University of Texas; Dr. Deanna Marcum, Managing Director, Ithaka; Dr. Leonard J. Schoppa, Jr., Woodrow Wilson Department of Politics, The University of Virginia; Dr. Sheila Smith, Senior Fellow for Japan Studies, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).
U.S.CULCON Panel Chairman, Thierry Porté said, “I am delighted to welcome our newest members of CULCON, who are beginning their service at an important time in U.S.-Japan relations.  The expertise they bring, individually and collectively, will be invaluable to our discussions on U.S.-Japan educational and cultural issues.”
Last week, new CULCON panelists joined current panelists Chairman Porté, Dr. Robert Feldman and Dr. T.J. Pempel in a symposium titled, “Enhancing U.S.-Japan Relations and Educational Exchanges in a Globalized Society:  Doubling the Number of U.S. and Japanese Students Studying in Each Other’s Country.”  As CULCON panelists, they will continue working with their Japan counterparts to increase the quantity and quality of academic exchanges between Japan and the United States.  The new panelists will also join current panelist Dr. Anne Nishimura Morse, who leads CULCON’s effort to promote bilateral artistic exchanges.
Each new panelist will serve a three-year term that may be renewed once.  Dr. Smith will serve as the new U.S. CULCON Panel Vice Chair.  Membership on the U.S. CULCON panel is comprised of nine private sector members and three ex-officio government officials.  Membership on the Japan CULCON panel is similarly composed.  For a complete list of membership and bios of U.S. panelists, please go to:  https://culcon.jusfc.gov/about-us/membership.  For a complete list of membership of the Japan panelists, please go to:  http://www.jpf.go.jp/culcon/about/index.html
The U.S.-Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange (CULCON) is a binational advisory panel that serves to elevate and strengthen the vital cultural and educational foundations of the U.S.-Japan relationship, and to strengthen connections between U.S. and Japan leadership in those fields.