Meet Our Board

Dr. Harold "Brownie" Brown, director, retired in 2000 as professor emeritus of the University of Maine after 30 years of service. He is a graduate of the University of Maine, and served 4 years in the U.S. Navy. He began his teaching career as a science teacher in Maine and was later a principal. In 1967 he joined the faculty of the University of Maine. He served as 4-H State Program Coordinator from 1983 until his retirement, and was the State 4-H/Japan Exchange Coordinator for Maine from 1985-2000. He was a member of the National 4-H/Japanese Exchange Committee (now the International Program Committee or IPC) from 1992-1995. Other service activities have included the Governor's Advisory Council, Vice President and President-elect of the Maine 4-H Foundation, Director of the Maine Junior Sportman's Association, Deputy to the General Convention of the Episcopal Church USA (7 times), and a trustee of General Theology Seminary (in New York City). He is President of Maine's 4-H Foundation, Chair of the University President's Retiree Advisory Council, Member of the University President's Development Council and a member of the board of trustees of The University Foundation. In 2005, he was inducted into The National 4-H Hall of Fame.

Brownie grew up in the western mountains of Maine and has always enjoyed the out-of-doors. He got his first fly rod at the age of nine. Right behind his joy of being a husband, father, and grandfather is his love of flyfishing. He has shared this passion by teaching many young people these skills. Lately, he has been involved in a program using flyfishing as a physical therapy activity for women and men who have had mastectomies. His favorite fish to pursue is the brook trout. An oft-quoted statement of Brownie's is "I never saw a trout that lives in an ugly place."

Dr. Virginia Gobeli, director, was graduated from Salve Regina College in Newport, Rhode Island, with a major in Foods and Nutrition. Work as a hospital dietitian and then as a dairy food consultant to the American Dairy Association followed. In 1972 she received a M.S. degree in Youth and Adult Education from the University of Rhode Island and in 1989 an Ed.D. in Continuing Education from Boston University. She has had a distinguished career at state (Massachusetts, Nevada, and Nebraska) and national levels in various 4-H and youth development positions, retiring from her position as National Program Leader for 4-H Youth Development in 2002. While national program leader, she served on the 4-H/Japan Exchange's International Program Committee until her retirement in 2002.

Dr. Gobeli served as a consultant on youth development with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (in Rome), at a hemisphere meeting in Costa Rica, and on South African and Caribbean projects. She currently is state advisor to the Rhode Island Family, Career, Community Leadership Association. Her understanding of the 4-H organization and exchange program, and her deep commitment to youth development have distinguished her career, and she brings these to the LEX America board.

Dr. Ching-fen Hsiao, director, was born in Taiwan and educated at Tunghai University and Tainan Theological College and Seminary in Taiwan. He received M.Div. and Ph.D. degrees from Princeton University Theological Seminary. From 1967 until 1986 he was a professor and then president of Tainan Theological Seminary. In 1986 he became the Area Executive for East Asia and the Pacific for the United Church Board for World Ministries (in New York). In 2000 he left this position to become Executive Director of the Japan International Christian Foundation in New York.

He has held a number of visiting professorships over the years, in Taiwan and Japan, including most recently at Yushan Theological College and Seminary. He has served as an editor of theological textbooks, and as officer in organizations focused on Christian higher education and on theological education in Asia. His work and volunteer commitments have taken him through Asia, Oceania, Australia, and New Zealand; places off the usual tourist route have included Myanmar and DPRK (North Korea).

Dr. Hsiao relates an interesting experience in Pyongyang, DPRK, while serving as a delegate from North American churches bringing relief food during a famine. "It was a cold, January day during a power shortage. Despite the lack of heat, electricity, and food, people were friendly and eager to interact with us. I knew only a few words of Korean, but I and the locals used 'sign' and body language to communicate our good wishes to each other. 'Smile' is the best 'language.'"

Junji Kitadai, director, was graduated from International Christian University in Tokyo and became a news reporter for Tokyo Broadcasting System (at the time, Radio Tokyo), a major commercial broadcasting network in Japan. He served TBS as Washington correspondent, New York Bureau Chief, and Foreign News Editor and Anchorman-Correspondent for TBS News Special. Along the way, he received an M.S. from the Graduate School of Journalism of Columbia University. In 1989 he became the first president and CEO of Tokyo Broadcasting System International in New York, and retired from that position in 1992.

He has been an adjunct professor at the International Broadcasting Program of Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, and is the recipient of many awards, including the Columbia Alumni Award for Distinguished Career in Journalism in 1988. He is the president of Pacific Impact Communications, Inc., a consulting company he founded in New York in 1992. For 10 years he wrote a column for The OCS News, a Japanese language magazine in New York.

His current writing includes work on a book about John Manjiro, the first Japanese to come to the U.S. and an instrumental figure in U.S./Japan relations in the last half of the 19th century. He is co-author of Drifting Toward the Southeast: The Story of Five Japanese Castaways (2003) the first complete English language edition of theHyoson Kiryaku, the 1852 manuscript hand-recorded in four brush-written volumes, based on the court testimony of John Manjiro and his companions upon their return to Japan after 10 years in the West.

Dr. Charles "Charlie" Lang, director, received his bachelor's degree from Ohio State University and his master's and doctoral degrees from Michigan State University. He was a county extension agent in Ohio and Michigan, a Volunteer Leadership Development specialist in Kansas, and department chair for 4-H Youth Programs and Executive Director of the 4-H Development Fund in New Jersey. He has been on the faculty in Cooperative Extension for Ohio State, Michigan State, Kansas State, and Rutgers Universities, attaining the rank of full professor at Kansas State and Rutgers. His major responsibilities were in leadership development, specifically in the areas of identifying, recruiting, supporting, and recognizing 4-H volunteer leaders.

He has been a volunteer 4-H leader for 20 years, teaching entomology and sketching. State 4-H Distinguished Service awards in Michigan and Kansas, and the National 4-H Distinguished Service Award are some of the honors he has received. Dr. Lang first became active with the 4-H/Japanese Exchange Program in 1977 in Kansas and has served on the International Program Committee.

Since his retirement in 1993, he and his wife, Grace, have been active recruiting and orienting host families for the summer exchange program in western Pennsylvania. He uses the same leadership development approach honed during his 4-H career. His satisfactions come from hearing the impact the exchange has on families and their world. He is delighted with comments such as, "My child has learned how to become friends with a Japanese child," "My child became more self-confident," and a grandfather said, "I have put my feelings about the war behind me. These youngsters had nothing to do with it."

Charlie and Grace have been active as volunteers with Cooperative Extension and various community activities since their retirement. In recognition of their contributions, they were honored as Pennsylvania Outstanding 4-H Volunteers. They stay in touch with many friends in Japan since their first trip in 1978.

Dr. Yasuyuki "Yash" Owada, director and vice president and clerk, was born of Japanese parents in Manchuria, China. He was graduated from International Christian University in Tokyo, and received M.A. and Ed. D. degrees from Teachers College, Columbia University, in New York. After more than 10 years as an administrator and instructor at International Christian University, he joined the faculty of Johnston Center for Integrative Studies at the University of Redlands (Redlands, California) in the fields of anthropology and organizational behavior and served as its director for more than ten years, retiring in 1999.

Yash's enthusiasm for Hippo activities comes from his 30 years of eye-opening, soul-shaking experience at the Johnston Center. There, students learned, efficiently and productively, by teaching their professors. His many volunteer posts have included trusteeships of the Language Research Foundation, the LEX Institute, and the Japan International Christian University Foundation of New York.

Yo Sakakibara, director and president, was born in Fukushima, Japan. In 1962 he established the Tokyo English Center, an English-language school. He founded the Language Research Foundation in Massachusetts in 1968. At that time, he cooperated with renowned linguistic researchers at Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology to explore the nature of human communication. In 1971, he founded the Labo International Exchange Foundation in Tokyo, which developed innovative English-language instruction methods for children.

After further exploration of the natural language acquisition process, especially in multilinguals, in 1981 he established the Institute for Language Experience, Experiment, and Exchange (LEX Institute) in Tokyo, which operates Hippo Family Clubs. The Transnational College of LEX (TCL) was established in 1984. TCL is a research facility for the examination of language as a function of natural science. Expansion of Hippo Family Clubs to the U.S., Mexico, Taiwan and Korea followed. Mr. Sakakibara also serves as president of the LEX Institute.

Kenshi Suzuki, director and treasurer, was born in Nagoya, Japan, and received his B.A. in Political Science from Waseda University in Tokyo. At Waseda University he was a member of the Outdoors Club, where he had many "transnational" adventures. He was deeply impressed by the natural way of life he encountered on his first visit to Indonesia in the 1960s. He worked for more than 10 years in the Labo organization in both the international youth exchange program between Japan and the U.S. and South Korea, and in the English instruction and youth development programs.

He joined the LEX Institute at its formation and was quickly promoted to Managing Director for all of Japan in 1982. In 1998 he became vice president of LEX America and worked on location in the U.S. (in New York) until 2002. He currently is a director of the LEX Institute and an advisor to that organization on planning and development.

Elizabeth Victor, assistant clerk, was graduated from Amherst College in Massachusetts with a degree in fine arts. Two years spent living and teaching in rural Japan sealed her love for Japan and international education. She has experience managing international projects in both the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors. She joined LEX in 1995 and currently serves as Executive Director. She is an accomplished potter and has served on the board of directors of a not-for-profit pottery studio and school.