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Francis “Tony ” Moyer

Director: (1996 – 2007)

Mr. Moyer was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1948. His father’s career as an Air Force Officer took the family on extensive travels, including significant time in Japan and England. His stay in Japan with his family from 1957 to 1961 sparked his lifelong interest in that nation.

After receiving a B.A. from Baltimore’s Loyola University in 1970, Mr. Moyer went on to a graduate program in East Asian Studies at Columbia University, concentrating in Japanese History. He attended a one-year intensive Japanese language program at the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies in Tokyo (1975-76). During 1978 to 1980, Moyer conducted extensive research in Japanese cadastral surveys supported in part by a Fulbright-Hays research fellowship. Mr. Moyer was graduated from Columbia University with M.A. and M. Phil. degrees in 1978. He also taught Japanese history at Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York, and taught English at International Christian University, Mitaka, Tokyo.

In 1982 Mr. Moyer returned to Tokyo to join W.I. Carr, Sons, and Company (Overseas) Ltd. as a financial analyst. During his tenure there he gained intimate knowledge of the Japanese auto, machine tool, steel, and shipbuilding industries. In 1986 he moved to SBCI Securities (Asia) Ltd., the Asian commercial banking subsidiary of Swiss Bank Corporation. As Deputy General Manager of the Research Department, he led a team covering heavy manufacturing industries and Japan’s domestic land transportation sectors.

Mr. Moyer was invited to return to the United States to serve as Deputy Director of the North Carolina Japan Center in September of 1989. He was appointed Director of the Center in 1996, upon the retirement of John Sylvester, Jr., from that position.

As Director, Mr. Moyer worked to develop academic, technological, commercial and cultural links between North Carolina and Japan. In particular he expanded the Center’s program of scholarships for students seeking to study in Japan, and managed North Carolina State University’s large scale student exchange with Nagoya University in Japan. He regularly taught Asian history as a visiting lecturer at NCSU, and also taught that subject as a Visiting Lecturer at Duke University in 1996.

Mr. Moyer is frequently invited to speak on Japanese economics, business practices, culture and other topics by a wide variety of organizations throughout the Southeast. He was formerly a member of the Board of Directors of the Japanese Language School of Raleigh and of the Triangle Nippon Club. He served as Coordinator for the 1993-94 program of the Triangle East Asia Colloquium.