Professor Michael Donnelly is a political scientist at the University of Toronto and first holder of the Dr. David Chu Professorship in Asia-Pacific Studies. He was the founding Director of the Asian Institute and also served as the Director of the Dr. David Chu Program in Asia Pacific Studies housed in the Munk Center for International Studies.

Professor Donnelly holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University. A specialist on political economy in the Asia Pacific region, he has published on a wide variety of topics including Japanese-American relations, Canadian-Japanese relations, Japan and Southeast Asia, electoral politics in Japan and on a number of public policy areas including agriculture, trade, investment and nuclear power.

He is currently completing a book-length study on governance in Japan. Professor Donnelly has been a visiting research scholar at a number of academic institutions in Japan including the Institute of Developing Economies, Keio University, Meiji University, Japan’s Women’s University and Tsukuba University. He has also served on a number of scholarly and policy committees in Canada including the Canadian National Committee on Pacific Economic Co-operation.