Yoshiaki Kawata
Executive Director of DRI / Trustee and Professor of Faculty of Environmental and Urban Engineering, Kansai University
Biography
Prof. Kawata graduated from Department of Civil Engineering,
Kyoto University in 1969, and obtained PhD in 1976 from
Kyoto University. He was Associate Professor in 1976,
Research Fellow, University of Washington in 1981-82,
Fulbright Senior Research Fellow at Princeton University in
1992 and got the full professor position in 1993. He was
Director of DPRI, Kyoto University in 2005 to 2007. In 2002,
he became the founding Director of the new institute
established by central and Hyogo Prefecture government to
memorialize the Kobe earthquake, the Disaster Reduction and
Human Renovation Institution (DRI). He published more than
623 technical papers and 43 books in the fields of
integrated disaster reduction systems of catastrophic
disasters including urban disasters and their emergency
management. He was President of Japan Society for Natural
Disaster Science, Vice Presidents of Japan Society of
Disaster Information and also Natural Hazard Society. He
received the 1993 Japan Society of Civil Engineers Award and
the 1994 Japan Society for Natural Disaster Science Award.
He was a laureate for 2007 United Nation Sasakawa Award for
Disaster Reduction and a recipient, 2009 Distinguished
Services Commendation in the field of disaster management,
awarded by the Prime Minister.
Link
DRI
Makoto Usui
Teacher, Meishin Elementary School, Kobe; engaged in Telling Live Lessons through music
Biography
(explanation)
Link
(affiliate group)
Thin Aye Ko
Director, Thin Myanmar Language Center
Biography
(explanation)
Chairman
Isao Hayashi
Associate Professor, National Museum of Ethnology, Graduate University of Advanced Studies
Biography
Isao Hayashi is Associate Professor at the National Museum
of Ethnology, Osaka. His graduate training at Hitotsubashi
and Adelaide Universities was supplemented by work at the
University of Sydney, and field research in Papua New
Guinea. His current research projects are (a) history and
ethno-history in Melanesia and (b) anthropological study of
vulnerability and resilience to natural disasters. At the
museum, Hayashi has done curatorial work on several special
exhibitions. He is also teaching at the Graduate University
for Advanced Studies. He has edited Forum on the Disaster
Impact and Restoration in the 2004 Indian Ocean Giant
Earthquake and Tsunami (2007), Culture and Education for
Disaster Reduction (2008), and Natural Disasters and
Reconstruction Aids (2010). He is also the director of
Alliance for Disaster reduction Designs (ADD).
Link
Disasters and Society/Culture
Donna Saiki
Executive Director, The Pacific Tsunami Museum
Biography
A retired educator, Donna Saiki serves as a volunteer
executive director for the Pacific Tsunami Museum. She has
lived in Hawaii since 1960 serving as a school administrator
for thirty four years. She has been recognized for her
service to education, community and church and has an
excellent working relationship within the multi-cultural
community of Hilo.
Muhammad Saidur Rahman
Director, Bangladesh Disaster Preparedness Centre
Biography
Muhammad Saidur Rahman is the founder and director of
Bangladesh Disaster Preparedness Centre (BDPC), an
organization of professionals in disaster risk management.
Prior to setting up BDPC in 1991, he worked for twenty years
in Red Cross and Oxfam-UK, and held different positions e.g.
first Director of Cyclone Preparedness Programme, Deputy
Secretary General of Bangladesh Red Crescent Society and
Country Representative for Oxfam in Bangladesh. Graduated
from the Australian Counter Disaster College in Disasters
Services Administration, Muhammad Saidur Rahman planned and
conducted massive disaster relief and rehabilitation
operations during the period 1972 to 1991 in Bangladesh and,
for sometimes, in Somalia. Sponsored by UNDP, UNICEF and
bi-lateral donors (including DFID), he lead teams of
researchers and conducted action research studies on basic
issues related to disaster management. He has been
relentlessly trying his best to shift the paradigm of
disaster management from post-disaster response to
pre-disaster risk reduction culture. He promotes the concept
of empowerment of disaster vulnerable communities, through
provision of sustainable livelihood support, for
establishment of their rights and privileges. Mr. Rahman has
authored a number of books, including the widely used
Disaster Management Handbook for Bangladesh. International
Secretariat for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) has presented him
the Certificate of Distinction under United Nations-Sasakawa
Award for Natural Disaster Reduction for the year 2002.
Link
Website of BDPC
Kenichi Yamamoto
Deputy Executive Director, DRI
Biography
Kenichi Yamamoto is the Deputy Executive Director of the
Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution. He was
working as an operations coordinator for the National Diet
and government (National Land Agency) when the Hanshin-Awaji
Earthquake struck in 1995. After that, he examined the
relocation of national services from the perspective of
disaster preparedness for the National Land Agency and the
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism,
planned deep underground usage, coordinated assessments of
public works such as dams, promoted anti-seismic
construction and retrofitting for homes based on the lessons
of the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake and was in charge of
development permitting under the Urban Planning Law. He has
been at his current post since July 2007.
Link
DRI
Masaru Sakato
Executive Vice President, The Japan Foundation
Biography
After graduating from Kyoto University with a Bachelors
Degree in German Literature, Mr. Sakato joined the Japan
Foundation in 1972. Besides working in various positions
within the Foundation’s headquarters, he was stationed
abroad as Deputy Director of the Bangkok Branch from 1977 to
1981, and as Deputy Director of the Japan Cultural Institute
in Cologne, Germany, from 1990 to 1993. He continued his
work at the Japan Foundation from 1993 to 1997 as Director
of the Financial Division, and then from 1997 as Director of
the Planning Office, until transferring back to Germany in
1999, where he worked until 2002 as Minister at the Embassy
of Japan in Bonn; and as Director of the Japan Cultural
Institute in Cologne. From there, Mr. Sakato moved back to
Tokyo to become the Managing Director of the Japan
Foundation’s Planning and Evaluations Department, until
accepting his appointment, by the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, as Consul-General of Japan in New Orleans in 2005.
He returned to Japan in 2007 and is currently serving the
Japan Foundation as Executive Vice President.
Link
(affiliate group)
Sanjaya Bhatia
Knowledge Management Officer, Secretariat of IRP (International Recovery Platform)
Biography
Mr. Sanjaya Bhatia is instrumental for the development of “Guidance Notes on Recovery” for various sectors. As former Focal Point for Disaster Resilient Schools and Hospitals at the World Bank, Mr. Bhatia facilitated the development of the “Guidance Notes on Safe School Construction”. He has handled disaster reduction and recovery for ADPC, Government of India, and UNDP. He is a certified trainer for the Incident Command System.
Copyright c 2011 TeLL-Net
All Rights Reserved.