Japan America Society of West Michigan Board Elects New Executive Director

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Japan America Society of West Michigan Board Elects New Executive Director
    BATTLE CREEK, Mich., Jan. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- The Japan America Society of
West Michigan (JASWM) Board of Directors has elected Dennis D Donahue to the
position of Executive Director, the Society announced today.
    Donahue, a 30-year U.S. Foreign Service veteran, has served in various
capacities with the U.S. Information Agency, managing U.S. Embassy public
affairs, primarily with foreign non-governmental entities (media, universities,
and cultural-civic leaders), as well as administering U.S. cultural
educational and professional exchange programs in host countries.
    His Foreign Service career included assignments at the U.S. Embassies in
Tokyo, Singapore, Brasilia (Brazil), Wellington (New Zealand), Saigon (Viet
Nam), and New Delhi.  His most recent position was Media Program Coordinator
at the East-West Center, a Honolulu, Hawaii based research and education
center where he managed professional development programs for mid- to senior-
level journalists from Asia, the Pacific, and the U.S.
    Jan Burland, Chairman of the JASWM, said the Society's Board had no
difficulty in confirming his appointment and were pleased the timing of his
move to West Michigan corresponded with the organization's need to replace
outgoing Executive Director Tracy Miller-Furuichi, who took a position with a
Japanese company in Battle Creek.
    "We are pleased to have someone with Dennis Donahue's extensive foreign
service, especially in Japan, along with his Asian cultural background as our
new Executive Director and look forward to having him lead us to the next
level as we continue the society's mission of building stronger relationships
between the American and Japanese communities in Michigan," said Burland.
    Donahue assumes the role of Executive Director immediately.
    The Japan America Society of West Michigan is one of 40 independent
private, non-profit, and non-partisan organizations in the United States that
offers educational, cultural and business programs about Japan and U.S.-Japan
relations to the general public in the West and Mid-Michigan regions.
    For more information about the JASWM, visit our web site at
http://www.us-japan.org/jaswm/


                                  Biography
                              Dennis D. Donahue
                              Executive Director

    Dennis D. Donahue is Executive Director of the Japan America Society of
West Michigan (JASWM).  The Society promotes cultural, business, educational
and social exchange for the development of both Japanese and American
communities in Lansing, Battle Creek, Coldwater, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Grand
Rapids and other cities in the area.  It was established in 1999 in Battle
Creek and has been active since then sponsoring art exhibitions, concerts,
film series, speaker programs, school outreach, golf outings and business
programs around West Michigan.
    Prior to joining JASWM, Mr. Donahue was coordinator for six years of the
East-West Center Media Program, responsible for professional exchanges for
journalists from Asia, Pacific and United States.  The East-West Center,
Honolulu, Hawaii, is a not-for-profit education and research institution
(think tank) established by the United States Congress in 1960 to "promote
better relations and understanding between the United States and the nations
of Asia and the Pacific."
    Mr. Donahue came to the East-West Center in 1999 from a thirty-year career
as a United States Foreign Service Officer with the United States Information
Agency (USIA).  He served in American embassies in Brazil (Cultural Attache),
Singapore (Counselor for Public Affairs and Director of the U.S. Information
Service-USIS), Japan (Program Officer), New Zealand (Cultural Attache),
Vietnam (Publications Officer) and India (Assistant Publications Officer).  He
also was Public Diplomacy Advisor to the United States Pacific Command in
Hawaii and worked in the Voice of America and in USIA headquarters in
Washington, D.C.
    Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Mr. Donahue was a reporter for two
metropolitan dailies, The Indianapolis Star and The Indianapolis Times.  He
also worked for groups of suburban weekly newspapers in Indianapolis and
Milwaukee.
    Mr. Donahue received his M.A. in International Communication from American
University, Washington, D.C. (1980) and his B.A. in English from Marian
College, Indianapolis, Indiana (1962).
SOURCE Japan America Society of West Michigan
http://www.us-japan.org/jaswm
CONTACT:
Dennis Donahue, +1-269-962-4076, or Jan
Burland, +1-269-962-7526, both of Japan America Society of West
Michigan