Trustee Emeritus of The Asia Foundation

Edwin O. Reischauer Professor of Japanese Politics, and Director, Program on U.S.-Japan Relations, Harvard University



Susan Pharr served on the board of trustees of The Asia Foundation from 1995 to 2015, and was appointed Trustee Emerita in June 2015. She is Edwin O. Reischauer Professor of Japanese Politics and director of the WCFIA Program on U.S.-Japan Relations at Harvard University. She joined the Harvard faculty in 1987. From 1974-1976, she served as staff associate at the Social Sciences Research Council. Thereafter, until 1986, she was on the faculty of the department of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She also has served as a senior social scientist with the Agency for International Development. Her current research focuses on shaping civil societies, and the changing nature of relations between citizens and states in Asia.