Richard Dasher

At Stanford, Dr. Richard Dasher has been Director of the US-Asia Technology Management Center since 1994. He additionally holds Consulting Professor positions in Electrical Engineering and East Asian Studies at Stanford, conducting research and developing new educational content about regional and national innovation systems, open innovation management, and the impact of new technologies on industry structures and dynamics, with focus on institutional relationships between Asia and the U.S. From 1998 – 2015, Dr. Dasher concurrently served as Executive Director of Stanford’s industry-funded Center for Integrated Systems (CIS), which supports research into advanced electronic and software systems, nanotechnologies, and emerging areas such as artificial intelligence and bio-electronics.

Dr. Dasher serves on review boards and advisory councils of major government-funded science and technology programs and research institutes, including his roles as Co-chair of the Review Panel of the Canada Excellence Research Chairs (CERC) program, the Program Committee of Japan’s World Premier International Research Center (WPI) initiative, and the International Advisory Committees of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) and the Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (TISTR). He is a senior advisor to Tohoku University and a member of the Global Advisory Board of Kyushu University. He is a senior advisor to the Mitsubishi Research Institute in regard to the Innovation Network for Co-creation of the Future (INCF). He also serves on the Academic Advisory Council for the Asia Pacific Institute for the Digital Economy and on the editorial board for the Journal of Cyber Policy (published by the Royal Institute of International Affairs, a.k.a. Chatham House).

He also maintains an active management consulting practice, serving as advisor or board member for start-up companies, business accelerators, venture capital firms, and nonprofit organizations in Silicon Valley, China, India, Japan, and S. Korea. He is a mentor in the Stanford Angels and Entrepreneurs network.

Dr. Dasher was the first non-Japanese person ever asked to join the governance of a Japanese national university, serving as a Board Director and member of the Management Council of Tohoku University from 2004 – 2010. He was on the International Committee for the Japanese Minister for Science and Technology Policy from 2001 – 03, which led the planning of the creation of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST). He received M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Linguistics from Stanford University. From 1986 – 90, he directed the U.S. State Department’s Advanced Language and Area Training Centers in Japan and Korea that provide full-time language and area curricula to U.S. and Commonwealth country diplomats assigned to those countries. Dr. Dasher is fluent in speaking and reading Japanese.