Gerrit van Wingerden

Graduate of Stanford University

Serial entrepreneur

Formerly one of the original developers of Windows NT

Studied abroad in Kyoto and previously worked in Japan

Trisha Sorrells Doyle

Emmy Award–winning journalist and a freelance producer, and also serves as an adjunct professor at the UBC School of Journalism.

After graduating from Columbia Law School, she began her career at ABC News, working on major programs including Nightline and 20/20. She later became a producer for CBS News’ 60 Minutes, covering international stories such as terrorism, the global AIDS crisis, and the Iraq War. She is based in New York and co-founded Upper West Side Media Inc. with Claudia Kist. She is deeply familiar with Japanese culture and has visited Japan twice as an exchange student, staying in Osaka and Kyoto.

David Greenspan

While studying at Harvard University, he participated in an exchange program in Kyoto, and later attended the USC School of Cinematic Arts for graduate studies. His thesis film, Ohagi, was selected for the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Palme d’Or. It was the first time a graduate film had ever been invited into the Official Competition.

He is currently based in Hollywood and directs television dramas, including Station 19.

Toshiyuki Alga

Professor Emeritus at Osaka Metropolitan University and a board member of the International Public Economics Association. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Kyoto University.

He is regarded as a leading authority in global economics today and has authored numerous publications. He is widely recognized for his large-scale, interdisciplinary analyses that draw on international economics, international politics, and multinational enterprise theory.

Koichi Okamoto

Professor in the Graduate School of Engineering at Osaka Metropolitan University and Associate Member of the Science Council of Japan. After earning a Ph.D. in Science from Kyoto University, researcher at the Kyoto University Venture Business Laboratory and as a Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. Conducted research and education at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). He served as a PRESTO researcher at the Japan Science and Technology Agency, a Specially Appointed Associate Professor at Kyoto University, and Kyushu University. Drawing on his research and teaching experience in both Japan and the US, he aims to strengthen semiconductor talent development and to build an interdisciplinary education system.

Oliver Williamson Jr.

Specialized advisor for application essays for higher education.

He graduated from the School of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania and earned an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley.

His father, Oliver E. Williamson, was an economist who received the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2009. As a child, he also spent time in Kyoto, accompanying his father during his research stay at Kyoto University.

C.J. Alvarez-Abarejo, Ph.D.

M.A., L.P.T. is an educator and researcher who teaches philosophy at the University of the Philippines Diliman and the University of Santo Tomas.

Specializing in philosophy of education, philosophy for children, and epistemology, he is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Education with a focus on educational philosophy.

In recent years, she has been dedicated to promoting thinking education through the Community of Philosophical Inquiry approach and also serves as a co-editor of a Springer-published volume.