Vice-Rector (Tokyo)

Kazuhiko Takeuchi is a Vice-Rector of UNU as well as Director of the UNU Institute for Sustainability and Peace. He concurrently serves as Deputy Executive Director of the Integrated Research System for Sustainability Science (IR3S) and as a Professor at the Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Tokyo. He is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Sustainability Science (Springer) and a member of the Food, Agriculture and Rural Area Policies Council of the Government of Japan.

Vice-Rector Takeuchi has served, inter alia, as the President of the Japanese Institute of Landscape Architecture, a special member of the National Land Development Council (Japan), and a member of the Central Environment Council (Japan).

Educated and trained as a geographer and landscape ecologist at the University of Tokyo, he engages in research and education on creating eco-friendly environments for the harmonious coexistence of people and nature, focusing especially on Asia and Africa. He is keenly interested in the restoration of ecosystems and the effective utilization of environmental resources in Japan (an example being the revitalization of traditional rural landscapes, which are locally called satoyama).

His recent publications include Satoyama—Traditional Rural Landscape of Japan (co-edited, Springer, 2003), ”Rebuilding the Relationship Between People and Nature: The Satoyama Initiative” (Ecological Research, 25:891-897, 2010) and Sustainability Science (co-edited, UNU Press, forthcoming).

Vice-Rector (Tokyo)

Govindan Parayil, an Indian national, joined the United Nations University as a Vice-Rector in August 2008, and was appointed Director of the UNU Institute of Advanced Studies in January 2009. Prior to joining UNU, he had served since 2004 as a full Professor with the Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture at the University of Oslo (Norway), where his research focus was on science, technology, innovation and sustainability. He served concurrently as Director of Research and Leader of the Innovation Group for two years.

Prior to that, he was Head of the Information and Communications Management Programme and a member of the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences at the National University of Singapore (2001–2004), and was on the faculty of the Division of Social Sciences of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (1994–2001). His previous academic affiliations include Cornell University, Illinois Institute of Technology and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (USA) and the University of Sulaimaniyah (Iraq).

Vice-Rector Parayil holds a Bachelor of Science degree (Electrical Engineering) from the University of Calicut (India), a Master of Science degree (Science, Technology and Values) from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (USA), a Master of Arts degree (Development Economics) from American University (USA), and a Ph.D. in Science and Technology Studies from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (USA). He authored Conceptualizing Technological Change (1999), edited Kerala: The Development Experience (2000) and Political Economy and Information Capitalism in India (2006), and has written numerous book chapters and articles in international journals. His co-edited book The New Asian Innovation Dynamics: China and India in Perspective was published in 2009. He is active in research and advocacy work in science, technology and innovation for sustainable societies.

Vice-Rector in Europe (Bonn)

Jakob Rhyner was appointed UNU Vice-Rector in Europe and Director of the UNU Institute for Environment and Human Security in November 2010. He holds a Ph.D. and diploma in theoretical physics from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule; ETH) in Zurich. He is a member of numerous professional organizations and boards, including the Fachleute Naturgefahren Schweiz (Swiss Expert Group on Natural Hazards; since 2001), the Swiss Physical Society (since 1986), and research project evaluation boards of the European Commission (since 2006).

Vice-Rector Rhyner has a variety of international experience, including serving as a guest scientist at L.D. Landau Institute of Theoretical Physics in Moscow, former Soviet Union (1986); visiting scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the USA (1990-91); and scientific advisor at ABB Kabeldon in Alingsas, Sweden (1996-1997).

Prior to joining UNU, Dr. Rhyner served as Director of the Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) of the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) in Davos, Switzerland, and as Head of SLF’s Warning and Prevention Research Unit. He acts as a member of the Directorial Board of WSL, and at WSL/SLF has been involved in the area of natural hazards safety since 2001.