Academic Administration
As president of Hendrix College, a national liberal arts college founded in 1876, Bill Tsutsui stressed accessibility and affordability,
diversity and inclusion, a commitment to the core values of a residential liberal arts education, and connecting with the college’s
United Methodist and Arkansas heritage. The Hendrix Arkansas Advantage, which offered scholarships covering full demonstrated financial need to qualified Arkansas high school graduates, was launched in 2014 and became a nationwide program (Hendrix Advantage Plus) in 2018.
In 2015, the college announced partnerships with eight schools and organizations (including KIPP Delta Public Schools and Little Rock Central High School) to bring Pell-eligible students to Hendrix on full scholarships. In 2016, Tsutsui appointed Hendrix’s first Chief Diversity Officer (who was also the first among Associated Colleges of the South schools to report directly to the president) and created a standing committee on diversity and inclusion on the college’s Board of Trustees. During Bill’s presidency, Hendrix secured three of the five largest individual gifts in its history, including $26 million from the estate of Mary Ann Dawkins and $10.5 million from the Windgate Foundation. Be Hendrix, launched in 2016, reached $103 million—the most ever in a Hendrix fundraising campaign—by 2019. A new 16,000-square-foot campus welcome center opened in September 2017 and the Miller Creative Quad a $17-million mixed-use project combining student housing, a new museum of art,
music facilities, and an auditorium, opened in 2019.
As Dean of Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences at Southern Methodist University, Bill led the development and implementation of Dedman College’s first strategic plan; raised over $25 million for the college as part of SMU’s Second Century Campaign; oversaw the creation of a new visual identity and marketing plan for the college; and established the Dedman College Interdisciplinary Institute, the Center for Drug Discovery, Design, and Delivery, three new majors, three new minors, a graduate certificate, two master’s degrees, and a joint Ph.D. in biostatistics with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. At the University of Kansas, where he held roles including center director, department chair, and associate dean, he led the planning and establishment of the Center for Global and International Studies; coordinated efforts to win $8 million in federal funding for KU’s five area studies centers; and created a range of new programs for study abroad in East Asia, service learning, distance education in Chinese language, and professional development for K-12 teachers.
diversity and inclusion, a commitment to the core values of a residential liberal arts education, and connecting with the college’s
United Methodist and Arkansas heritage. The Hendrix Arkansas Advantage, which offered scholarships covering full demonstrated financial need to qualified Arkansas high school graduates, was launched in 2014 and became a nationwide program (Hendrix Advantage Plus) in 2018.
In 2015, the college announced partnerships with eight schools and organizations (including KIPP Delta Public Schools and Little Rock Central High School) to bring Pell-eligible students to Hendrix on full scholarships. In 2016, Tsutsui appointed Hendrix’s first Chief Diversity Officer (who was also the first among Associated Colleges of the South schools to report directly to the president) and created a standing committee on diversity and inclusion on the college’s Board of Trustees. During Bill’s presidency, Hendrix secured three of the five largest individual gifts in its history, including $26 million from the estate of Mary Ann Dawkins and $10.5 million from the Windgate Foundation. Be Hendrix, launched in 2016, reached $103 million—the most ever in a Hendrix fundraising campaign—by 2019. A new 16,000-square-foot campus welcome center opened in September 2017 and the Miller Creative Quad a $17-million mixed-use project combining student housing, a new museum of art,
music facilities, and an auditorium, opened in 2019.
As Dean of Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences at Southern Methodist University, Bill led the development and implementation of Dedman College’s first strategic plan; raised over $25 million for the college as part of SMU’s Second Century Campaign; oversaw the creation of a new visual identity and marketing plan for the college; and established the Dedman College Interdisciplinary Institute, the Center for Drug Discovery, Design, and Delivery, three new majors, three new minors, a graduate certificate, two master’s degrees, and a joint Ph.D. in biostatistics with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. At the University of Kansas, where he held roles including center director, department chair, and associate dean, he led the planning and establishment of the Center for Global and International Studies; coordinated efforts to win $8 million in federal funding for KU’s five area studies centers; and created a range of new programs for study abroad in East Asia, service learning, distance education in Chinese language, and professional development for K-12 teachers.
Professional, Board, and Community Service
Bill has been committed throughout his career to serving his academic institutions, the profession, higher education,
non-profit organizations, and the larger community.
At the University of Kansas, Bill eventually served on or chaired almost every imaginable committee, from the exalted to the laughably obscure. He was a member of numerous faculty and administrative search committees, unit-level and institutional strategic planning groups, and countless selection, award, advisory, and curricular bodies. He chaired the University Senate Athletics Committee (at a time with no active NCAA investigations) and was a member of the University Committee on Promotion and Tenure, the University Senate Executive Committee, and the Committee on Undergraduate Studies and Advising. As chair of the University Calendar Committee (a glamorous job if there ever was one), he delivered the two-day fall break that the student body had long and loudly demanded.
Bill has been active in professional organizations, chairing the Northeast Asia Council of the Association for Asian Studies and the Diversity Committee of the American Society for Environmental History. He served on the National Advisory Committees of the Japan-America Student Conference and the National Consortium on Teaching About Asia. He currently is chair of the Editorial Board of the Association for Asian Studies and, until 2021, edited the book series Asia Shorts and Asia Past and Present. He is co-editor of the series New Studies in Modern Japan at Lexington Books/Rowman & Littlefield and has served on the editorial boards of Environmental History, the Japan Studies Association Journal, and H-Japan. Bill has been a grant reviewer for the U.S. Department of Education, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the American Council of Learned Societies; served on the Midwest Selection Committee for Marshall Scholarships; and been a program evaluator, consultant, and promotion and tenure reviewer for dozens of American colleges and universities.
Bill's board service includes terms with the Association for Asian Studies, Kansas State Historical Society (where he was president from 2003-2004), the Kansas Humanities Council (where he chaired the Program Committee), the World Affairs Council of Dallas-Fort Worth, EIIA (a national non-profit insurance provider for colleges and universities), and Arkansas' Independent Colleges and Universities. He served on the Division III Presidents Council of the NCAA and chaired the Southern Athletic Association's Presidents Council. He chaired the board of the Federation of State Humanities Councils from 2017 to 2019 and currently serves on the boards of the US-Japan Council and the US-Japan Bridging Foundation. He is also an appointed member of the Japan-United States Friendship Commission and the United States-Japan Conference on Cultural & Educational Interchange (CULCON).
In the community, Bill served on the boards of the Friends of the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas and the Beach Museum of Art at Kansas State University, was president of the Kansas Association of the Chado Urasenke Tankokai, and was a graduate of Leadership Lawrence, Class of 2000. In 2013, he was a member of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Education of the Dallas Independent School District and, during his years in Arkansas, he served on the boards of the Arkansas Repertory Theater in Little Rock and the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce.
non-profit organizations, and the larger community.
At the University of Kansas, Bill eventually served on or chaired almost every imaginable committee, from the exalted to the laughably obscure. He was a member of numerous faculty and administrative search committees, unit-level and institutional strategic planning groups, and countless selection, award, advisory, and curricular bodies. He chaired the University Senate Athletics Committee (at a time with no active NCAA investigations) and was a member of the University Committee on Promotion and Tenure, the University Senate Executive Committee, and the Committee on Undergraduate Studies and Advising. As chair of the University Calendar Committee (a glamorous job if there ever was one), he delivered the two-day fall break that the student body had long and loudly demanded.
Bill has been active in professional organizations, chairing the Northeast Asia Council of the Association for Asian Studies and the Diversity Committee of the American Society for Environmental History. He served on the National Advisory Committees of the Japan-America Student Conference and the National Consortium on Teaching About Asia. He currently is chair of the Editorial Board of the Association for Asian Studies and, until 2021, edited the book series Asia Shorts and Asia Past and Present. He is co-editor of the series New Studies in Modern Japan at Lexington Books/Rowman & Littlefield and has served on the editorial boards of Environmental History, the Japan Studies Association Journal, and H-Japan. Bill has been a grant reviewer for the U.S. Department of Education, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the American Council of Learned Societies; served on the Midwest Selection Committee for Marshall Scholarships; and been a program evaluator, consultant, and promotion and tenure reviewer for dozens of American colleges and universities.
Bill's board service includes terms with the Association for Asian Studies, Kansas State Historical Society (where he was president from 2003-2004), the Kansas Humanities Council (where he chaired the Program Committee), the World Affairs Council of Dallas-Fort Worth, EIIA (a national non-profit insurance provider for colleges and universities), and Arkansas' Independent Colleges and Universities. He served on the Division III Presidents Council of the NCAA and chaired the Southern Athletic Association's Presidents Council. He chaired the board of the Federation of State Humanities Councils from 2017 to 2019 and currently serves on the boards of the US-Japan Council and the US-Japan Bridging Foundation. He is also an appointed member of the Japan-United States Friendship Commission and the United States-Japan Conference on Cultural & Educational Interchange (CULCON).
In the community, Bill served on the boards of the Friends of the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas and the Beach Museum of Art at Kansas State University, was president of the Kansas Association of the Chado Urasenke Tankokai, and was a graduate of Leadership Lawrence, Class of 2000. In 2013, he was a member of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Education of the Dallas Independent School District and, during his years in Arkansas, he served on the boards of the Arkansas Repertory Theater in Little Rock and the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce.