2026/9/5

On September 1, 2026, Chancellor Lee D. Lambert and accompany members from the American Foothill-De Anza Community College District (located in California's Silicon Valley) visited KUFS to officially sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Kyoto University of Foreign Studies (KUFS) and Kyoto Gaidai Nishi High School.
Representatives from KUFS and the high school attended the signing ceremony, including KUFS Chair of the Board of Governor and President Toshiro Kita, with everyone present celebrating the new partnership.

The ceremony was followed by an exchange meeting and a special session. Mr. Lambert, who is active on the front lines of education and industry collaboration in the AI and innovation fields, gave the keynote presentation: "Joining Kyoto and Silicon Valley: Culture, Innovation, AI and Global Learning."
Mr. Kita, who himself is an expert in AI an innovation, along with other representatives from KUFS, responded with enthusiastic discussion on the matters covered in the presentation.

The new agreement forges new bonds between Kyoto and Silicon Valley, which is home to world-leading technology companies such as Google, Apple, Tesla and NVIDIA, and also Foothill-De Anza, which sits at the center of the Valley and has connections with the companies therein. The MOU is an important first step toward promoting greater international and academic exchanges by students and teachers here in Kyoto, as well as dynamic global developments at both KUFS and Kyoto Gaidai Nishi High School.

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