Hinrich Foundation Leadership And Alumni

Our leaders

The Hinrich Foundation leadership team is comprised of professionals who carry decades of experience in global trade, China-US relations and working in Asia.

Ultimately, our vision is to have the scholars of the Foundation become our future leaders. As such, the Hinrich Foundation Alumni Association (HFAA) has the mission to incubate talent for director-level and executive-level roles in the Foundation and to engage our alumni in the development and evolution of our programs and in the identification of future beneficiaries.

Merle A Hinrich

Chairman, Hinrich Foundation

Kathryn Dioth

Chief Executive Officer, Hinrich Foundation

Michael Akman

Chief Operating Officer, Hinrich Foundation

Alex Boome

Program Director, Education, Hinrich Foundation

Chuin Wei Yap

Program Director, International Trade Research, Hinrich Foundation

Cheryl Tan

Associate Director – Marketing and Communications, Hinrich Foundation

Deborah Elms

Head of Trade Policy, Hinrich Foundation

Rohanshi Vaid

Research Manager, International Trade Research, Hinrich Foundation

Larry Shaw

Education Program Manager, Hinrich Foundation

Our advisors

Our research program benefits from the guidance, review and support of our Advisory Board members.

Kurt Tong

Partner, The Asia Group

Areas of expertise

East Asia diplomacy and economic affairs
Free trade agreements
US-China relations
Hinrich Foundation Advisory Board member

Razeen Sally

Areas of expertise

Asian economies
Trade and investment policy
Hinrich Foundation Advisory Board member

Henry Gao

Professor of Law, Lee Kong Chian Fellow, Singapore Management University

Areas of expertise

WTO
China economic policy
International law
Hinrich Foundation Advisory Board member

Andrew Staples, PhD

Global Lead, Impact Initiatives and APAC Lead, Policy research and Insights, The Economist Group

Areas of expertise

International political economy and macroeconomics
Foreign direct investment (FDI)
Regionalism
Japan, Southeast Asia, Asia Pacific
Hinrich Foundation Advisory Board member

Andrew Sheng

Areas of expertise

Asian economies
Financial systems and governance
China economic policy
Hinrich Foundation Advisory Board member