Kohei Itoh, the president of Keio University, is set to join the Board of Trustees of the United States-Japan Foundation (USJF) as Vice Chair. He will succeed Takeshi Niinami, CEO of Suntory Holdings Ltd. and Chairman of the Keizai Doyukai Association of Japanese Business Executives, who will step down from the USJF board in October after a decade of service.
Itoh is a trailblazer in quantum computing and a prominent figure in advancing collaborative international research and education in Japan. His research team was instrumental in discovering the fundamental physics required for silicon-based quantum computing, paving the way for its industrial application by Intel Corp. and other major companies. In 2018, Itoh founded the Keio Quantum Computing Center and initiated a close partnership with IBM.
Itoh became president of Keio University in May 2021 and has accelerated Keio’s international activities and visibility. Under his leadership, Keio and Carnegie Mellon University have recently announced a new partnership on AI involving many leading U.S. and Japanese companies. He has also been known as an opinion leader on reshaping higher education in Japan.
“We conducted an extensive search to complete the difficult task of replacing Tak Niinami”, said USJF Board Chair Lawrence K. Fish. “We are privileged to have found somebody with the stature of Kohei Itoh to help lead the Foundation into its next phase”. “Having lived in the U.S. partially in my high school years and fully in my five-year graduate studies, I consider the U.S. my second home”, Itoh said. “I am so honored and excited to serve the Foundation that has been bridging future generations between the U.S. and Japan”.
Alongside his leadership at Keio University, Itoh holds several advisory positions with the Japanese government. He serves as an executive member of the Council for Science, Technology and Innovation, chaired by the Prime Minister, and leads the government’s Quantum Technology Innovation expert panel. Itoh earned his bachelor's degree in physics from Keio University in 1989 and completed his PhD in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1995.
Founded in 1980, the United States-Japan Foundation aims to enhance relations between the two nations. Since its inception, the foundation has awarded over $100 million in grants and manages the US-Japan Leadership Program, which connects a network of more than 500 fellows from both countries.
