Professor Aya Suzuki appointed UNU senior vice-rector

Professor Aya Suzuki of the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences has been appointed as the next senior vice-rector at the United Nations University (UNU) in Tokyo, the U.N. announced on June 23. Suzuki will assume the position on Oct. 1, succeeding Sawako Shirahase, project professor at the Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

As senior vice-rector, Suzuki will support the global UNU system’s management initiatives, ensure overall integration and coherence of the U.N. academic arm’s activities, and facilitate the university’s relationships with Japan’s academic community and government ministries. In her new post, Suzuki will also hold the rank of U.N. assistant secretary-general.

A development economist, Suzuki has conducted extensive research on reduction of poverty in developing countries, examining employment opportunities and industrial development in those regions. One of her research themes is high-value export agriculture in Africa and Asia, conducting field studies in countries such as Ghana, Ethiopia, Vietnam and Indonesia.

Suzuki received her Ph.D. in agricultural and resource economics from the University of California, Davis, in the U.S. in 2008. She is a founding board member of the Japanese Association for Development Economics and an editorial board member of Asian Development Review published by the Asian Development Bank. She served as a lecturer at the Graduate School of Frontier Siences before becoming an associate professor in 2015. She was appointed a professor in 2020.

Suzuki’s term as UNU senior vice-rector is scheduled to end on Sept. 30, 2027.