Sylff News

In June 2011 Massey University in New Zealand and the Australian School of Business of the University of New South Wales in Australia commemorated the 20th anniversary of the Sylff program at their respective institutions. The celebration brought together the four Sylff stakeholders in these countries: The Nippon Foundation, Tokyo Foundation, Sylff steering committees, and Sylff fellows. Nippon Foundation Chairman Yohei Sasakawa, the Tokyo Foundation’s Director for Leadership Development Takashi Suzuki, and representatives of the Sylff institutions offered messages to commemorate the 20-year milestone.

Details of the events can be found at the sites of the two universities.

Massey University
Australian School of Business

The fruits of the Sylff program over the past 20 years were crystallized in the Sylff fellows’ presentations of their research. Research themes varied widely, ranging from conservation of traditional ecological knowledge in Vanuatu and a communication study of politics, economics, and social justice as portrayed by the major news media to a cross-cultural study on the effectiveness of humor in advertisement. But they all shared a common vision of seeing their research themes in a global context, a commitment to working for the betterment of the society, and efforts to apply the knowledge gained through research to meet real social needs.