Experts Directory: Asia

Agriculture in Asia

Asian Societies

Business in Asia

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Agriculture in Asia

Charles M. Burt, Ph.D.
Professor of Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering
Chairman, Irrigation Training and Research Center
(805) 756-2379 / (805) 756-2378  e-mail: cburt@calpoly.edu

Registered civil and agricultural engineer.
Irrigation Person of the Year (2000) of the California Irrigation Institute; 1997 Person of the Year, The Irrigation Association
Author of more than 100 papers and the books such as The Surface Irrigation Manual; Drip and Micro Irrigation for Trees, Vines, and Row Crops; Fertigation; and Modern Water Control in Irrigation.
Chairman, Friends of the Central Highlands of Vietnam.
Work experience in 24 countries.
Areas of expertise:
* drip irrigation
* sprinkler irrigation
* surface irrigation
* canal modernization
* drainage
* salinity
* irrigation in Vietnam and other developing countries

Asian Societies

Harold Kerbo, Ph.D.
Professor of Social Sciences
Chair of Cal Poly Pacific Rim Group
(805) 756-1150/2260  e-mail: hkerbo@calpoly.edu

Research on Japanese corporations in Thailand, other Southeast Asian countries, and Germany.
Co-author of Who Rules Japan? The Inner Circles of Economic and Political Power (1995).
Author of Social Stratification and Inequality: Class Conflict in Historical Perspective (3rd ed. 1996) and articles on topics including many aspects of Japan, history of social welfare, and employee relations in Japanese corporations.
Areas of expertise:
* modern Japan and Thailand
* Japanese politics and economy
* United States welfare programs
* poverty in the United States and the world
* social welfare

John A. McKinstry, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology
(805) 756-2097/2260 / e-mail: jmckinst@calpoly.edu

Fulbright scholar, Japan (1982-83).
Visiting professor, University of Kyushu, Japan (1982-83).
Resident director, CSU International Program--Japan (1988-89).
Fulbright scholar and instructor, Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan (2000-01).
Author of Jinsei Annai: Glimpses of Japan Through a Popular Advice Column (1991).
Co-author of Who Rules Japan? The Inner Circles of Economic and Political Power (1995).
Author of "Fortune telling in Japan" in Mangajin (May 1994).
Author of nine entries for The Encyclopedia of Japanese Business and Management (forthcoming).
Areas of expertise:
* Japanese culture and society
* Japanese industry and economy
* Japanese social institutions (family, education and religion)
* effects of technical innovations in modern societies
* social change and industrial society
* global ethnic and race relations and conflict (including in the states of the former Yugoslavia)

Barbara Mori, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology
(805) 756-2729/2260  e-mail: bmori@calpoly.edu 
 Web: www.cla.calpoly.edu/~bmori

Author of books and articles on Japanese traditional arts.
Current research on higher education for women in China, Korea and Japan, and on East Indian immigrants to the Central Coast.
Educational consultant on teaching in China.
Secretary/treasurer, Association for Asian Studies on the Pacific Coast.
Founding member, SLO White Heron Sangha.
Areas of expertise:
* Japanese traditional arts - tea ceremony
* education in Asia - China and Japan
* women in East Asia - China, Korea, Japan
* East Indian immigration to the Central Coast of California
* Buddhism

Business in Asia

Allan Bird, Ph.D.
Professor of Global Strategy and Law
(805) 756-7344/2704  e-mail: abird@calpoly.edu

Fellow, Fulbright graduate research, Japan (1987).
Author of three books including Executive no Kenkyu (research on Japanese executives, 1988, in Japanese).
Author of 21 articles on Japanese business and management.
Member, Academy of International Business and Academy of Management.
Member and vice president, Association of Japanese Business Studies.
Member, editorial board, Journal of Management Inquiry and Venture Japan.
Co-author of international assignment software "Expatriate Profile."
Areas of expertise:
* Japanese business and management
* Japanese human resources management
* foreign subsidiary human resources
* top management careers and compensation
* Japan-U.S. trade issues
* cross-cultural management
* international negotiations
* business-government relations
* expatriate selection and management
* overseas subsidiaries
* executive teams
* careers and new science perspectives