Board and committee members

Andreas van Agt (Honorary Chairman)
Born 1931 in Geldrop, the Netherlands, Professor of Criminal Law at Nijmegen University, in 1971 Minister of Justice, from 1977 to 1982 Prime Minister. European Ambassador to Japan and the United States between 1987 and 1995. Honorary degrees from the University of South Carolina, USA, Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan, Kwansei Gakuin University in Nishinomiya, Japan and Hansung University in Seoul, Korea.

Members of the board

James Leipnik
Born in the UK in 1954, he started his career with the Canon organisation in 1983, initially in the UK operation where he managed various sales and marketing groups before his final appointment as Marketing Director for the United Kingdom & Ireland. In 1999, he was then appointed to develop the planning for the new Canon Europe organisation initially as Chief of Business Strategy before moving to his current role as Chief of Communication & Corporate Relations. He is responsible for the Brand reputation of Canon in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region by ensuring that all communication is aligned to the organisations stakeholder groups that range from individual consumers and businesses through to government bodies and NGO's.

Willem R. van Gulik
Born 1944 in China, received an international education. In 1971 appointed Curator of the Japanese Department of the National Museum of Ethnology at Leiden, the Netherlands, and from 1982 to 1990 Director. Since 1985 Professor of Japanese Art and Culture and since 1994 Professor of East-Asian Art and Culture at Leiden University. President of the Netherlands-Japan Association, the International Society for Japanese Art and member of several foundation and association boards.

Paul A. Kers
Born in 1960 in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Qualified as Chartered-Accountant in 1994. Worked with audit firms for several years as well as for a subsidiary of a UK based firm where several positions in the accounting area were held. Joined Canon Europa N.V. in December 1989 and currently holds a senior position in the Finance department.

Members of the executive committee

Andrew Fisher
Born in Oxford in 1965, graduated in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge (1986) and with a DPhil in theoretical physics from the University of Oxford (1989). After spells as a Junior Research Fellow at St John’s College Oxford and as a Royal Society European Fellow at the IBM Zurich Research Laboratory, he joined the faculty at the University of Durham in 1993 and transferred to UCL (University College London) in 1995. He has been a Professor of Physics there since 2001 and a Principal Investigator in the London Centre for Nanotechnology since 2006. He work on the quantum behaviour of electrons in nanoscale structures such as molecules and quantum wires, especially on how they flow and how they can be used to represent information. A recipient of the Maxwell Medal and Prize of the Institute of Physics, he is a Fellow of the Institute and of the American Physical Society.

Claire Guédron Pike
Born Dijon, France, in 1946. Undergraduate B. Com followed by graduate exchange with Czec national Internal Trade Ministry in 1968. Subsequent MBA at INSEAD was extended by engagement as faculty assistant in Economics. Initial professional experience as marketing executive responsible for product launch at global French cosmetics group L’Oréal. Recalled to INSEAD to manage MBA selection department, and then a succession of non-academic, executive roles in shaping continuious international growth of the business school from 1980s onward, including : Director of MBA Programme, Director External Relations, Director of INSEAD funding Development Campaign. Currently Secretary General, overseeing the activities of the school's governing boards and board committees, as well as relations with its major related foundations.

José Ignacio Rodrigo Fernandez
Born in Madrid in 1958, received a First in Law, Economics and Business Administration; has been a Spanish state lawyer since 1984. Appointed as legal advisor to the Spanish Secretary of State for Finance, Director of Fireco and the Ares Bank. Professor of Community Law at Comillas University and State Finance School. In 2008, received Magna Cum Laude as Iuris Doctor by the Law School of the Universidad de Río Piedras, Puerto Rico. Published and lectured widely.

Seigo Shima
Born 1960 in Osaka, Japan. Received a Master degree in Agriculture from Osaka Prefectural University and Ph.D in Agriculture from the University of Tokyo. Researcher at Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (1985-1994, Chiba, Japan). 1993-1995 Alexander-von-Humboldt Research Fellow at the University of Marburg, Germany. Since 1995, Group Leader (Microbial Protein Structure) of the Department of Biochemistry at the Max-Planck-Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg.