Dean

Julian Dierkes is a sociologist who is focused on comparative research involving education in contemporary Japan and democratization in Mongolia. He completed his BA at UC Berkeley and his MA and PhD at Princeton with further studies at the Free University of Berlin, Sophia University and the University of Tokyo. After a fellowship at the University of Cambridge, Dierkes taught at the University of British Columbia from 2002–24 where he held the Keidanren Chair in Japanese Reseach. He travels regularly to Mongolia, has served as an international election observer six times, is the principal author of the Mongolia Focus blog, and was awarded the Mongolian Friendship Medal in 2023.