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

David Bloor
Born 1937 in Dover, received a First in Physics and a Ph.D. in Low Temperature Physics from the University of London. Returned to Queen Mary College London after a period as Lecturer at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. Promoted to Professor of Polymer Physics before moving to the Chair of Applied Physics at the University of Durham in 1989 and becoming Emeritus Professor in 2002. Served as Co-ordinator of the UK Initiative in Molecular Electronics, sponsored by the DTI and SERC, from 1987 to 1993. Humboldt Fellow at the University of Stuttgart (1975-76) and the University of Bayreuth (1997-98), Erskine Fellow at the University of Canterbury (1983), Royal Society Industrial Fellow at GEC-Marconi (1984-85), Sir Derman Christopherson Foundation Fellow at the University of Durham (1996-97). Appointed Scientific Adviser to Peratech Ltd. 2003. Referee and assessor to a number of funding organisations worldwide; has published and lectured widely.

Adriana Boscaro
Born 1935 in Venice. Graduated in Oriental Studies from Venice University where she was Professor of Japanese Literature. Published widely in the field of oriental studies. General Editor of a series on Japanese Literature. Honorary member of the European Association for Japanese Studies (EAJS) of which she was a founding member and former President. Awarded the Imperial Decoration "Order of the Sacred Treasure" (1999). President of the Italian Association for Japanese Studies (AISTUGIA).

Olivier Giscard d'Estaing
Born in 1927 in Paris. Received a master degree in law in Paris and an MBA from Harvard University. Honorary Member of the "Conseil Economique et Social" France, Chairman of Insead Foundation and of the European League for Economic Cooperation (ELEC, France). Advisor of the United Nations as Chairman of BUSCO and COPAM. Former member of the French Parliament and Governor of the Atlantic Institute. His career has been devoted equally to industry (steel and glass), politics and management education as Founding Dean and Professor at Insead. Serves on various boards and has published widely.

Patrick Masterson
Born 1936 in Dublin, received a First from University College and Ph.D. from Louvain in 1962. Member of the staff of the University College, Dublin prior to being appointed Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Sociology in 1980. Registrar in 1983 and President in 1986. Principal, European University Institute, Florence, 1994-2002. Numerous appointments in world of teaching and academia. Numerous book and publications on philosophy and religion. Currently, professor (Emeritus), University College Dublin.

Heinrich Pfeiffer
Born in 1927 and educated in Germany. Ph.D in philosophy. Continued studies in Sweden and USA while teaching. In 1953 appointed head of the German Department of the Fulbright Commission, in 1956 Secretary General and from 1964 until 1995 Executive Member of the Board of Trustees of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. 1993 - 1998 vice-chairman of the Human Frontier Science Program, Strasbourg, France. Member of the Royal Society of Arts in London, of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of other foreign academies. Has published widely on international academia on the history of the sciences and philosophy. He is a board member of several foundations and of science promoting organisations.

Gerhard Pulverer
Born in 1930 in Klagenfurt, Austria. Studied medicine in Vienna (M.D. 1954), fellow of Alexander von Humboldt-foundation (1956-1957) and of the Austrian Government (1957-1958 in Paris, Institute Pasteur). Since 1958 at the Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Medical Faculty, University of Cologne. Emeritus since 1999. Member and fellow of many national and international scientific societies. 1986 appointed Honorary Doctor of Medicine by the Nicolaus Copernicus-University Cracow, Poland. 1994 awarded Cross of Merits of the Republic of Poland (Commander class) and 1995 of the Republic of Germany (1st class). 1993-2003 Governor of Repton School, Repton, Derbyshire, England. Scientific publications of different topics of medical bacteriology and hygiene.

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. 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.