Paul and Jane Roberts provide endowment for Fukushima resiliency research

An endowed gift from the board chair of the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies will support and expand the ongoing multidisciplinary examination of disaster resilience in Fukushima, Japan, by Notre Dame faculty and students.

Paul Roberts, a 1971 accountancy alumnus, and his wife, Jane, have established the Paul and Jane Roberts Endowment for Excellence for the Fukushima Project. The gift supports the multidisciplinary examination of the recovery from the 2011 Fukushima triple disaster of earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown. The multiyear commitment began in March 2025. “Jane and I are pleased to be able to support the activities of the Liu Institute that continue to engage the Notre Dame community in many meaningful, impactful ways,” Paul Roberts said. “The Fukushima Project is providing hands-on experience to both Notre Dame students and faculty by increasing exposure to Asia while supporting the University's overall goal of being a force for good in the world.” “Once again, Paul and Jane Roberts are showing their decades-long commitment to advancing Asian Studies at Notre Dame,” said Michel Hockx, Liu Institute director. "This extraordinary gift recognizes the importance of multidisciplinary research in tackling global challenges that touch every area of life in a changing climate. The gift reinforces the idea that Notre Dame must play a role globally in addressing these issues.”

The Fukushima Project began in 2018, led by Jessica McManus Warnell, a Liu Institute faculty fellow and the Rex and Alice A. Martin Faculty Director of the Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership at the Mendoza College of Business. Through a grant from the Liu Institute’s Justice and Asia research cluster, McManus, a faculty member in the Department of Management & Organization whose work examines global sustainability, collaborated with Notre Dame colleagues Noriko Hanabusa, a professor of Japanese language and culture, and Kevin Walsh, an engineering professor who specializes in sustainable and resilient infrastructure. Anna Geltzer, a Notre Dame social scientist who studies biomedical science and technology, subsequently joined the project. All four are faculty fellows of the Liu Institute. Their goal was a holistic examination of the recovery from the triple disaster. A 2023 summer trip included five undergraduate students who conducted individual research projects related to resilience. “It was evident in the beginning that if you’re going to address an issue like natural disaster response and recovery, you can’t simply approach it through one lens,” McManus said. “Our work examines resilience, economic recovery, community partnerships, and multisector engagement, all in the context of climate change. While management and business decision making are my focus, the study is incomplete without incorporating ideas from science, cultural studies, engineering, and other diverse disciplines. To that end we have engaged faculty colleagues across our campus as we develop this project.” Activities to date include faculty and student research publications and conference presentations, as well as engagement with business leaders and worker advocates in Japan and the U.S. Among other collaborators, Tim Andree ’83, former CEO of Dentsu and a member of the Liu Institute Advisory Board, has been involved since the project’s inception, engaging with students and connecting partners in the U.S. and Japan. The Roberts gift will allow the project to expand student involvement, student-faculty collaborative writing, and partnership building. Specifically, McManus intends to develop a new course that will integrate academic content with site work, invite visiting lecturers to share the issues of community and economic recovery in the wake of environmental disasters with the Notre Dame community, establish internships with partner businesses in Fukushima, and co-sponsor events with professional societies that are relevant to the goals of the project. “Paul and Jane Roberts have been a part of this project since its inception by offering travel grants to students, and we are so appreciative of this opportunity to make the project accessible to more students and community partners through an endowed gift,” McManus said. “As environmental disasters increase in frequency and intensity around the world, it is critical for students and faculty to work alongside those communities most affected. The Paul and Jane Roberts Endowment for Excellence for the Fukushima Project makes this engagement possible.”

The Fukushima endowment is the Roberts’ second. In 2011, the couple established the Paul and Jane Roberts Endowment for Undergraduate Immersion in Asia, which provides funding for students with limited or no prior experience in Asia to travel to Asia for research, service projects, language study or internships. Paul Roberts was one of Notre Dame’s first students to study abroad in Japan, spending his sophomore year at Sophia University in Tokyo. After graduating, he joined the U.S. Navy and was stationed near Yokohama, where he taught Japanese language to his shipmates. He earned an MBA from Harvard University and spent much of his career in financial management positions at paper manufacturers Kimberly-Clark and Schweizer-Mauduit. During his semi-retirement, he helped establish a joint venture in China. He joined the Liu Institute Advisory Board in 2019 as its founding chair. The Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, part of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs, promotes awareness, understanding and knowledge of Asia through administering a supplementary major and minor in Asian Studies, supporting student and faculty scholarship, organizing public events, and facilitating interaction and exchanges with partners in Asia. The institute was established by a gift from the RM Liu Foundation that supports the philanthropic activities of Robert and Mimi Liu and their children, Emily and Justin, both Notre Dame graduates.