天野之弥
5th Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency
1 December 2009
Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
Japan| Yukiya Amano 天野之弥 |
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5th Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency
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| Assumed office 1 December 2009 |
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| Preceded by | Mohamed ElBaradei |
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| Born | 9 May 1947 Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan |
| Nationality | Japan |
| Alma mater | University of Tokyo |
Yukiya Amano (天野之弥 Amano Yukiya, b. 9 May 1947) is the current Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), having been elected to the position in July 2009. Amano previously served as a Japanese diplomat and international civil servant for the United Nations and its subdivisions.
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Amano was born in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, in 1947. He started his studies at the University of Tokyo in 1968. After graduating from the Faculty of Law, he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in April 1972.[1] He specialized in the international disarmament issue and nuclear nonproliferation efforts.[2] In 1973–1974, he studied at the University of Franche-Comté and in 1974–1975, at the University of Nice, France.[3]
Amano is married and speaks English, French and Japanese.[4]
Amano held different posts in the foreign ministry such as the Director of the Science Division and Director of the Nuclear Energy Division in 1993. During his foreign service, he was posted in the Embassies of Japan in Vientiane, Washington and Brussels, in the Delegation of Japan to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva and was Consul General of Japan in Marseille.[2][3]
In August 2002, he was appointed Director-General for Arms Control and Scientific Affairs, and in August 2004, he was appointed Director-General of the Disarmament, Nonproliferation and Science Department.[2] In these positions, he was involved in international negotiations such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty extension, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, the Biological Weapons Convention verification protocol, amendment of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons and the International Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation. He represented Japan as a governmental expert on the UN Panel on Missiles in April 2001 and in the UN Expert Group on Disarmament and Nonproliferation Education in July 2001.[2]
In 2005, Amano served as the ambassador from Japan to the IAEA. From September 2005 to September 2006, Amano served as the Chairman of the IAEA Board of Governors.[3] During this time, the IAEA and its Director General Mohamed ElBaradei received the Nobel Peace Prize. Amano represented the IAEA as the chairman at the Nobel Prize award ceremony held in December 2005.[5].
In September 2008, the Japanese government announced that it had nominated Yukiya Amano to be the next Director General of the IAEA.[6] On 2 July 2009, he was elected by the Board of Governors as Director General for the IAEA in the sixth round of voting. He defeated South African representative Abdul Samad Minty, his primary rival.[7][8][9] On 3 July 2009 all 145 IAEA member states formally appointed Yukiya Amano "by acclamation".[8][10]
On 1 December 2009, Amano began his first term as Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency.[11]
In an interview to the Austrian newspaper Die Presse, Yukiya Amano said he was "resolute in opposing the spread of nuclear arms because I am from a country that experienced Hiroshima and Nagasaki".[1]
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Mohamed ElBaradei |
Director General of the IAEA 2009–present |
Incumbent |