The former Japanese ambassador to Croatia, Kaname Ikeda, has been appointed director general of ITER. The decision on Ikeda’s appointment was made last fall at a meeting in Vienna of officials from the European Union and five participating nations—Japan, China, Russia, South Korea, and the US—according to published reports. At press time, an agreement was being formalized for ITER. Ikeda, who studied engineering at the University of Tokyo, joined the Japanese government’s science and technology agency in 1968 and served as both head and deputy vice minister of the research and development bureau and as director of the now-defunct National Space Development Agency of Japan. He was named ambassador to Croatia in 2003. News reports said he was recommended for the ITER post because of his familiarity with science and technology policies and his involvement in significant international projects.
Raymond Chiao, a professor in the physics department of...
