Session 1 of 2 · A Practical Guide to Partnering with Japanese Universities Oct 28, Nashville
Wednesday, October 28, 2026 | 8:15 am – 9:15 am CDT
Hybrid event — in person in Nashville and live on Zoom
Japan is already one of the largest investors in the Southeast. This session is about the other direction: how a U.S. college or university invests in Japan through people. We start with why now, then walk through how a school — from the president's office to individual departments — should approach a prospective Japanese partner.
Panelists share what works in practice: finding and recruiting the right Japanese students, building faculty-to-faculty relationships in both STEM and the humanities, and what government programs on both sides of the Pacific can (and cannot) do to help.
President, Mission Value Partners · Host and moderator · Nashville
Andrew McDermott is the founder and President of Mission Value Partners, a Nashville-based investment firm specializing in Japanese equities. He has moderated U.S.–Japan programs with the Tennessee World Affairs Council and leads the Takahashi/Alexander Scholarship initiative recognizing Tennessee–Japan collaboration.
Senior Advisor, WisdomTree · Board of Governors, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology · Tokyo (joining remotely)
Jesper Koll has been researching and investing in Japan since becoming a resident in 1986. Over the past two decades, Jesper has been consistently ranked as one of the top Japan strategists/economists, having worked as Chief Strategist and Head of Research for major U.S. investment banks J.P. Morgan and Merrill Lynch. He is an Expert Director of the Monex Group and a member of the Investment Committee of the Japan Catalyst Fund. His analysis and insights have earned him a position on several Japanese government and corporate advisory committees. In late-2016, Governor Koike Yuriko appointed Jesper to her Advisory Board. Jesper also serves as Personal Advisor to the current Minister of Finance and is a sought-after counselor for Japan’s major corporate boards, policy makers and entrepreneurs. He is also one of the few non-Japanese members of the Keizai Doyukai, the Japan Association of Corporate Executives; and serves on the Board of OIST, Okinawa Institute of Science & Technology. Jesper is a founding member of the Asia Society Tokyo and heads their policy committee. He has written three books in Japanese, Towards a New Japanese Golden Age, The End of Heisei Deflation, and the recently published Japan's Economy - The Envy of the World. Full bio →
Founder, Edogijuku · Tokyo (joining remotely)
Ed Lee is the founder of Edogijuku, a Tokyo-based education consultancy. For nearly three decades, he has advised Japanese students and families applying to U.S. universities and graduate schools. His work gives him a direct view of how Japanese students and parents choose overseas education, what they value in a university partner, and where U.S. institutions often lose strong candidates. At this session, he will share practical insight on finding, communicating with, and supporting the right students in Japan. Full bio →
Adjunct Senior Fellow, Indo-Pacific Security, Center for a New American Security · Washington, D.C.
Jennifer Hendrixson White is an adjunct senior fellow for Indo-Pacific Security at the Center for a New American Security. From 2010 to 2025 she served in senior positions at the State Department, the Senate and House, the Pentagon and the National Security Council, working on China and Indo-Pacific policy, trade, and emerging technology. Full bio →
Professor of U.S.–Japan Relations and Diplomatic History, Kobe University · Kobe, Japan · in Nashville
Tosh Minohara is Professor of U.S.–Japan Relations and Diplomatic History at Kobe University's Graduate School of Law, where he has taught for more than two decades. His expertise spans international relations, national security, foreign policy and political-diplomatic history, and he supervises graduate students from around the world. Full bio →
Partner, Mission Value Partners · Academic Specialist, IRCN, University of Tokyo · Tokyo / Nashville
Yohei Yamada is a Partner at Mission Value Partners, a Nashville-based investment firm specializing in Japanese equities, where he has covered Japanese companies as research analyst since 2013. He previously served as a Japan equity strategist at Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities in Tokyo, where his research was cited in the Financial Times, Nikkei, and Barron's. Alongside his investment career, he conducts research in computational neuroscience at the University of Tokyo's International Research Center for Neurointelligence (WPI-IRCN); his work on predictive learning in brain-inspired spiking neural networks was recently published in the Nature Portfolio journal Communications Biology. His U.S.–Japan story began early: he grew up in Maryville, Tennessee from ages 8 to 15 before returning to Japan.
Founding Executive Director, U.S.–Japan Bridging Foundation · Tennessee
Eric Gangloff was the first Executive Director of the United States–Japan Bridging Foundation, which supports American undergraduates studying in Japan, and previously led the Japan–United States Friendship Commission. He founded the Japanese program at the University of Tennessee.
Adjunct Senior Fellow, Indo-Pacific Security, Center for a New American Security · Washington, D.C.
Jennifer Hendrixson White is an adjunct senior fellow for Indo-Pacific Security at the Center for a New American Security. From 2010 to 2025 she served in senior positions at the State Department, the Senate and House, the Pentagon and the National Security Council, working on China and Indo-Pacific policy, trade, and emerging technology. Full bio →
U.S. Congressional Staffer · Washington, D.C.
Paul Burdette has advised on Indo-Pacific and international cyber and technology policy in the United States Congress since 2018. During this period, he has drafted and introduced numerous bills enhancing the U.S. government’s ability to compete in cyber and emerging technologies overseas, including quantum technologies, artificial intelligence, subsea cables, and advanced cybersecurity. He has also led congressional efforts supporting and strengthening the U.S.-Japan alliance through legislation and congressional oversight.
Paul is an inaugural member of Keidanren’s Next Generation Japan Salon and has been recognized by the National Bureau of Asian Research as a U.S.-South Korea Next Generation Leader.
Paul earned his master’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, where he received a Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship for Mandarin Chinese. He later shifted to Japanese, recently passing the N2-level Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT).
Paul also has transatlantic experience. He is fluent in German and received a Fulbright scholarship to Germany from 2016-2018. In Berlin, he worked at Global Bridges e.V., a non-governmental organization convening high-level engagements between global policymakers and business leaders, where he focused on German-Chinese relations.
Managing Director & Vice Chairman, J.C. Flowers & Co. · Chair, U.S.–Japan Bridging Foundation · New York / Tokyo
Thierry Porté is a Vice Chairman and Managing Director of J.C. Flowers & Co. LLC, a global private equity firm focused exclusively on financial services. In this capacity, he currently serves as director of the J.C. Flowers Asset Reconstruction Company, a Mumbai-based non-performing loan platform; the director of CXDA, a digital asset platform; on the board of LMAX, a global financial technology company; and on the boards of OneItalia, an Italian insurance brokerage group, and Monte dei Paschi France Banque, a French lending specialist.
In a personal capacity he is a Co-Founder and Senior Advisor of Reimei Global Advisors, Inc.; Senior Advisor of Equita, a Milan-based investment bank; Director of Acta Pharmaceuticals and Alryxo, Boston-based biotechnology companies; and Director of NyuuLy, a Japanese information platform. He has led successful investments in OneLife Insurance, Equita SIM, Fidea NV, Eurovita SpA, Acuon Corporation, Financière CEP, and Chi-X Asia Pacific.
Mr. Porté worked previously at Shinsei Bank, Ltd., Tokyo, and at Morgan Stanley in New York, London and Tokyo. Mr. Porté holds a BA in Economics from Harvard College, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and an MBA with high honors and the designation of Baker Scholar from Harvard Business School. He has held leadership roles in a number of Harvard-related activities, including serving as President of the Harvard Club of Japan (1995- 2008). He is a member of the Harvard Business School Board of Dean’s Advisors and the Harvard Global Advisory Council. He serves as Chairman of the U.S. – Japan Bridging Foundation. He is a Founder and Chair of Asia Society Japan and a Global Trustee of Asia Society. He served on the Board of Trustees of Regis High School from 2009 to 2015 and continues to serve on the Regis Investment Committee, as well as the Investment Committee of the Missions of the Society of Jesus. He served as Chair of the U.S. – Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange and the Japan – U.S. Friendship Commission from 2007 – 2013, positions designated by the President of the United States. Full bio →
Director of Business Development, Winged Keel Group · New York
Focus and Experience
Dave Baeckelandt is a Director of Business Development at Winged Keel Group, a New York-city headquartered firm focused on tax efficient investing in alternatives for family offices. Earlier, Dave led sales at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management Americas, Inc. (“TAMA”) to U.S. pensions, non-profits, and family offices. Immediately prior to joining TAMA in early 2022, Dave spent nearly six years at Cambridge Associates (“C|A”) in Boston. In that role, Dave sold C|A’s services and tools to LPs in North America, Japan, and Benelux. Dave began his career (after working as an interpreter and translator) at the predecessor banks of Mitsubuishi UFJ in 1988. As an Investment Specialist, Dave sold funds to Japanese transplants in the U.S. After six years in New York, Dave joined
William Blair & Co., where over the next eight years he set up and ran the first dual-licensed, foreign investment advisory firm in Japan. Following his return to the U.S., Dave worked in private equity for three years before leading Mercer Investment Consulting’s Analytics and Research Group.
Outside the office Dave has played an active leadership role in several non-profit organizations. These include the Japan America Society of Chicago (Executive Board, Board of Directors, 2000-2012 ), Belgian Publishing Inc. (President and Chairman of the Board 2012-2014), and the Nederlandse Taalunie (on the US Advisory Board of the Belgian-Dutch non-profit since 2013). Periodically Dave has served as a speaker on the nexus between finance and history and also as a moderator on professional panels. Select past speaking engagements have included talks on “Chicago’s Financial Firsts” and “Japanese Financial Art”. Dave lives in Glenview, IL (with his wife and children).
Education and Professional Credentials
MA, University of Illinois (Urbana)
BA, University of Illinois (Urbana)
Japanese language, Konan University (Kobe, Japan)
Passed FINRA Series 3 (NFA), 6, 7, 63, 65, 9, 10, 24, 79