asian Cultural Night
Winner Biography
Ted Tsukahara '62
Theodore Tsukahara, Jr. is Director of the Integral Program of Liberal Arts, Director of the John F. Henning Institute and Professor of Economics at Saint Mary's College of California. He is a graduate of Saint Mary's (1962) with a B.S. in Economics and Business Administration. He earned a M.S. in Quantitative Business Analysis from the University of Southern California (1964), an M.A. (1967) and PhD (1970) in Economics from Claremont Graduate University. He was a National Endowment for the Humanities Post-Doctoral Fellow in Bioethics at the Hastings Center in 1974-75.
Before entering the business world in 1976, Ted taught mathematics at inter-city Catholic high schools in Oakland, CA and Los Angeles, CA and economics at the college level completing his earlier academic career as a tenured Associate Professor of Economics at Pomona College and Claremont Graduate University. From 1976-1986 he held executive positions in finance and planning with divisions of Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) -- ARCO Petroleum Products in Los Angeles and ARCO Chemical Company in Philadelphia. In 1986 Ted joined the New York office of Robert Fleming Ltd., a British merchant bank, as Senior Vice-President specializing in mergers and acquisitions within the chemicals and plastics industries. He joined the Philadelphia office of Legg Mason Wood Walker in 1990 as Managing Director, Corporate Finance.
Ted returned to academic life in September 1992 when he joined the faculty of Saint Mary's College, CA to teach economics and quantitative methods principally in the Executive MBA Program. His research interests are in the economic analysis of altruism, especially the informal care of the elderly, higher education management issues, and Catholic social teaching. He is President of the Association for the Study of the Grants Economy and serves as a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Gambling Studies. At Saint Mary's he has twice served as Chair of the Academic Senate and Faculty representative to the Board of Trustees, Interim Dean of the School of Economics and Business Administration and served as Director of the Bay Area Consortium for Higher Education Project funded by the James Irvine Foundation.
He serves on the Board of Trustees of Cathedral High School (Los Angeles, CA) and on the Finance Committee of Saint Mary’s College High School (Berkeley, CA) where he served five years as Chair, Board of Trustees. Other volunteer activities have included board positions with The Baldwin School (Bryn Mawr, PA), Devon Festival Ballet (Devon, PA), and Philadelphia Dance Alliance with focus on planning, financial affairs and fund raising activities. He recently retired as Chair of the Investment Policy Committee of the National Board of the Japanese American Citizens League. He chaired the original Housing Task Force for the City of Claremont, California.
Ted has been married to Victoria Fujita for 39 years. Victoria is a former Treasurer for the Pennsylvania State League of Women Voters. His daughter, Betsy is a graduate of Wellesley College (English) and completing her doctorate in English at the University of Iowa. His daughter, Jeannine is a graduate of Boston College (Philosophy) and Santa Clara University School of Law. She is retired from the practice of law and resides in Jacksonville, FL with her husband Erik, daughter Eden Akiko Palm (4 years) and son Anderson Kinya Palm (1 year).
