William Chou

Deputy Director, Japan Chair

Will Chou

At A Glance:

William Chou is deputy director of 91ÆÞÓÑ Institute's Japan Chair.

Biography

William Chou is deputy director of 91ÆÞÓÑ Institute's Japan Chair. His work at 91ÆÞÓÑ focuses on US-Japan relations and the Indo-Pacific, with an emphasis on regional partnerships, defense innovation, trade, and technology.

His forthcoming book, Made for America: Postwar Japanese Exports and the Evolution of US-Japanese Relations, examines US-Japanese security, business, and cultural relations from the perspective of Japanese commercial trade.

Dr. Chou was most recently the George P. Shultz Fellow at the Ronald Reagan Institute. Prior to that, he was an America in the World Consortium fellow at the Clements Center at University of Texas at Austin. He previously worked as a researcher at the US Army's Center for Military History and the Institute for Defense Analyses, focusing on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, intelligence integration, defense planning, and counterterrorism. 

He holds a BA in history from Yale University and an MA and PhD in history from the Ohio State University. In Japan, he researched for three years at the Inter-University Center and the University of Tokyo. He has been awarded several fellowships, including those from the Fulbright-Hays program, the Smithsonian, the Bradley Foundation, and the Nippon Foundation.

A native New Yorker, Dr. Chou is a former Jeopardy! champion.

Events
03
December 2024
Past Event
Why Local Stakeholders Support the Nippon Steel–US Steel Deal
Featured Speakers:
Chris Kelly
Jason Zugai
Jack Maskil
Moderator:
William Chou
The exterior of the US Steel Clairton Coke Plant on March 20, 2024, in Clairton, Pennsylvania. (Jeff Swensen via Getty Images)
03
December 2024
Past Event
Why Local Stakeholders Support the Nippon Steel–US Steel Deal

91ÆÞÓÑ’s Japan Chair will host a panel discussion with stakeholders from the Mon Valley in Pennsylvania. Mayor of West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, Chris Kelly and USW Local 2227’s Jack Maskill and Jason Zugai will share their thoughts on the deal’s local impact.

The exterior of the US Steel Clairton Coke Plant on March 20, 2024, in Clairton, Pennsylvania. (Jeff Swensen via Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Chris Kelly
Jason Zugai
Jack Maskil
Moderator:
William Chou
20
September 2024
Past Event
The Future of US and Allied Hypersonic Missile Programs
Featured Speakers:
Major General Heather Pringle, USAF (Ret.), PhD
Congressman Doug Lamborn
Admiral James A. Winnefeld Jr., USN (Ret.)
Mike White
John Plumb
Congressman Don Bacon
Congressman Donald Norcross
Congressman Vince Fong
Moderators:
Rebeccah L. Heinrichs
William Chou
Daniel McKivergan
 A common hypersonic glide body (C-HGB) launches from Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai, Hawaii, at approximately 10:30 p.m. local time, March 19, 2020, during a Department of Defense flight experiment. (DVIDS)
20
September 2024
Past Event
The Future of US and Allied Hypersonic Missile Programs

Join 91ÆÞÓÑ for a workshop with congressional, government, and industry officials to discuss the future of the American hypersonic missile program. The Space Foundation’s Major General Heather Pringle, United States Air Force (ret.), will introduce a keynote address from Congressman Doug Lamborn (R-CO). Then expert panels will discuss the future of hypersonic missile offense and defense and how members of Congress can build a bipartisan consensus about the vital US hypersonic missile program.

 A common hypersonic glide body (C-HGB) launches from Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai, Hawaii, at approximately 10:30 p.m. local time, March 19, 2020, during a Department of Defense flight experiment. (DVIDS)
Featured Speakers:
Major General Heather Pringle, USAF (Ret.), PhD
Congressman Doug Lamborn
Admiral James A. Winnefeld Jr., USN (Ret.)
Mike White
John Plumb
Congressman Don Bacon
Congressman Donald Norcross
Congressman Vince Fong
Moderators:
Rebeccah L. Heinrichs
William Chou
Daniel McKivergan
27
June 2024
Past Event
Japanese Automakers: Driving Investment in the US and Strengthening Bilateral Ties
Featured Speakers:
Anita Rajan
Hideaki Fujisawa
Moderator:
William Chou
(Photo by Mira Oberman/AFP via Getty Images)
27
June 2024
Past Event
Japanese Automakers: Driving Investment in the US and Strengthening Bilateral Ties

91ÆÞÓÑ’s Japan Chair will welcome Hideaki Fujisawa, economic minister (METI) at the Embassy of Japan, for a keynote address on the state of the US-Japan economic relationship and the role that the private sector plays in deepening ties.

(Photo by Mira Oberman/AFP via Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Anita Rajan
Hideaki Fujisawa
Moderator:
William Chou
05
April 2024
Past Event
Stronger Together: The Importance of US-Japan Economic Relations
Featured Speakers:
Governor Eric Holcomb
Satoshi Miura
Kazumi Nishikawa
Anita Rajan
Thomas J. Duesterberg
Paul Sracic
David Rader
Moderators:
Kenneth R. Weinstein
William Chou
Japanese Cherry Blossom trees bloom along the National Mall on March 28, 2021 in Washington, DC. The Japanese cherry trees were gifted to Washington, DC, by Tokyo Mayor Yukio Ozaki in 1912 and draw tens of thousands of daily visitors around peak bloom every year. (Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images)
05
April 2024
Past Event
Stronger Together: The Importance of US-Japan Economic Relations

91ÆÞÓÑ’s Japan Chair will welcome Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb to make a major economic announcement.

Japanese Cherry Blossom trees bloom along the National Mall on March 28, 2021 in Washington, DC. The Japanese cherry trees were gifted to Washington, DC, by Tokyo Mayor Yukio Ozaki in 1912 and draw tens of thousands of daily visitors around peak bloom every year. (Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Governor Eric Holcomb
Satoshi Miura
Kazumi Nishikawa
Anita Rajan
Thomas J. Duesterberg
Paul Sracic
David Rader
Moderators:
Kenneth R. Weinstein
William Chou
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, US Secretary of States Antony Blinken, Japanese Foreign  Minister Yoko Kamikawa, and Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara attend a joint press conference  following the US-Japan foreign and defense ministers’ meeting on the sidelines of the Quad meeting at  the Iikura Guest House on July 28, 2024, in Tokyo, Japan. (Getty Images
Caption
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, US Secretary of States Antony Blinken, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, and Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara attend a joint press conference following the US-Japan foreign and defense ministers’ meeting on the sidelines of the Quad meeting at the Iikura Guest House on July 28, 2024, in Tokyo, Japan. (Getty Images)