Bio


Richard Dasher has been Director of the US-Asia Technology Management Center (US-ATMC) at Stanford University since 1994. He served concurrently as the Executive Director of the Center for Integrated Systems in Stanford's School of Engineering from 1998 - 2015. His research and teaching focus on the flow of people, knowledge, and capital in innovation systems, on the impact of new technologies on industry value chains, and on open innovation management. 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 has served on th Program Committee of the $1.3 billion/year World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI) of Japan since its inception in 2007, and he has also served on program and review committees of other national science and technology funding programs, national research institutes, and universities in Canada, Japan, and Thailand. He is a Founding Partner of the Tokyo-based VC firm Global Hands-On Venture Capital (GHOVC), and he is an advisor to start-up companies, business accelerators, venture capital firms, and nonprofits in Silicon Valley, Japan, India, and S. Korea. Dr. Dasher received M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Linguistics from Stanford University. Before coming to the US-ATMC, he served as board director of two small companies in Tokyo, developing international business from 1990 - 93. From 1986 – 90, he was Director of the U.S. State Department’s Advanced Language and Area Training Centers in Japan and Korea that provide full-time curricula to U.S. and Commonwealth Country diplomats assigned to those countries.

Academic Appointments


  • Adjunct Professor, East Asian Languages and Cultures

Administrative Appointments


  • Director, US-Asia Technology Management Center (1994 - Present)
  • Executive Director, Center for Integrated Systems (1998 - 2015)

Honors & Awards


  • Foreign Minister's Commendation, Government of Japan (2023)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations


  • Program Committee member, World Premier International Research Center Initiative, JSPS, Japan (2007 - Present)
  • Board Director, World Sustainable Development Forum (2018 - Present)
  • Board Director, Japan Society of Northern California (2011 - Present)
  • Board Director, Keizai - Silicon Valley U.S.-Japan Business Forum (2002 - Present)
  • Senior Advisor, Mitsubishi Research Institute (2016 - Present)
  • Editorial Board, Journal of Cyber Policy (2017 - Present)
  • Chair, Steering Committee, Japan - U.S. Innovation Awards (2011 - Present)
  • Co-Chair, Review Panel, Canada Excellence Research Chairs (2009 - 2017)
  • Advisory Board member, Kyushu University Robert Huang Entrepreneurship Center (2011 - Present)
  • Advisor to the President, Tohoku University (2005 - Present)
  • Board Director, then Member of Management Council, Tohoku University (2004 - 2010)
  • International Advisory Board, Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (TISTR) (2014 - 2019)
  • Global Advisory Board, Kyushu University (2017 - 2019)
  • International Advisory Council, Japan Science and Technology Agency (2014 - 2016)

Program Affiliations


  • Center for East Asian Studies

2023-24 Courses


Stanford Advisees


  • Master's Program Advisor
    Avivi Wang

All Publications


  • Education for Innovation in Japan and the U.S.: Challenges and Approaches in the University Setting Dasher, R. B. Japan Economic Foundation. Tokyo. 2018 ; Japan SPOTLIGHT (March/April 2018): 22–26
  • After the Storm: the impact of the current economic downturn on the globalization of corporate research and development Asia Pacific World Dasher, R. B. 2010; 1 (1): 57-73
  • Value chain restructuring and R&D portfolio management: the effects of system-on-chip integration on the semiconductor and electronics industries INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT Dasher, R. B. 2002; 23 (7-8): 788-812
  • Regularity in Semantic Change Traugott, E. C., Dasher, R. B. Cambridge University Press. 2001