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Tohoku University Executive Vice President for Research Motoko Kotani is the new President-elect of the International Science Council. She will succeed President Peter Gluckman at the council's next General Assembly in 2024.

The newly elected Governing Board also includes Sawako Shirahase of the University of Tokyo as Vice-President for Finance of the Council, Anne Husebekk as Vice-President for Freedom and Responsibility in Science, and Salim Abdool Karim as Vice-President for Outreach and Engagement. Ten other Ordinary Members were also elected to the new board.

The International Science Council is an international non-governmental organization that provides a global voice for science. It was formed in 2018 in a merger between the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the International Social Science Council (ISSC).

The Governing Board - which reflects the ISC's multi-disciplinary and diverse membership base - is its central decision-making body, tasked with providing scientific and strategic leadership, as well as developing priority activities and business plans.

Tohoku University President Hideo Ohno said that the role of academia has never been greater than in today's world with all its challenges, and described the selection of Kotani as President-elect as "an international recognition of her work, and a huge honour and encouragement for our university,"

Kotani is a mathematician best known for her work in geometric analysis related to mathematical physics. Before being appointed EVP of Research at Tohoku University, Kotani was Director of the WPI-Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR) from 2012 - 2019 and Executive Director of RIKEN from 2017 - 2020. She has also served on several advisory committees of the Japanese government and various national research institutes.

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