Prof. T.J. Pempel is Jack M. Forcey Professor of Political Science in U.C. Berkeley’s Department of Political Science since July 2001. He serves on various committees of the American Political Science Association, the Association for Asian Studies, and the International Studies Association Council. Prof. Pempel served as Director of the Institute of East Asian Studies from 2002 until 2006. Prior to coming to Berkeley, he was on the faculty at the University of Washington in Seattle, Cornell University, University of Colorado and the University of Wisconsin. Prof. Pempel’s research and teaching focus on comparative politics, political economy, contemporary Japan, and Asian regional ties. He has published books about East Asia, regional security, and Asian politics, including Remapping East Asia: The Construction of a Region (Cornell University Press, 2005). In addition, he has published over one hundred twenty scholarly articles and book chapters and he is also on the editorial boards of a dozen professional journals. He earned B.S., M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University.