Kaoru KUWATA

Kaoru Kuwata has served as executive vice president for research, diversity, equity, and inclusion since April 2024.

Before assuming her current position, Kuwata was Tokyo Tech's executive vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion from 2023 to 2024, vice president for research development from 2018 to 2023, and the university research administrator (URA) director from 2019 to 2023. She also served as a specially appointed professor and URA at the Institute of Innovative Research and the Frontier Research Center.

After earning her bachelor's degree in chemistry from Japan Women's University in 1981, Kuwata joined NEC Corporation's research staff, where she spent the next two decades working on microcomputer software, system-on-chip development, and system large-scale integration. During this time, she also earned her master's degree in business administration from Hosei University in 1994.

From 2003 to 2010, Kuwata was Engineering and Business Unit manager at NEC Electronics Corporation. After this, she spent five years as senior specialist at Renesas Electronics Corporation from 2010 to 2015. During this period, Kuwata also served the Association of Super-Advanced Electronics Technologies as researcher from 2008 to 2011. From 2011 onwards, Kuwata spent four years formulating industry strategy at the Semiconductor Industry Research Institute Japan.

A specialist in business administration and marketing innovation management, Kuwata is the co-author of several chapters and complete books, including Evolution into a smart society, published in 2015.