William Chou

Senior Fellow and Deputy Director, Japan Chair

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Will Chou

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William Chou is a senior fellow and deputy director of Hudson Institute's Japan Chair.

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Biography

William Chou is a senior fellow and deputy director of Hudson Institute’s Japan Chair. His work at Hudson focuses on the United States’ relationship with Japan and other Indo-Pacific issues, especially economic security, trade and investment, and regional partnerships. Dr. Chou’s recent projects include analyses of the Nippon Steel–US Steel partnership, economic security cooperation among the US, Japan, and the European Union, automotive and critical mineral supply chains, and US industrial and trade initiatives around the world.

Dr. Chou writes and speaks regularly on policy issues, with his analysis appearing in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Politico, The Washington Post, Nikkei, The New York Times, and the Financial Times.

He holds a BA in history from Yale and a PhD in history from the Ohio State University, with a dissertation and book manuscript on Cold War US-Japan commercial and diplomatic relations. He is a former fellow at the Smithsonian, the Clements Center at the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Tokyo. He began his career as a research analyst at the Institute for Defense Analyses during the Iraq War.

A native New Yorker, Dr. Chou is a former Jeopardy! champion.

Events
Back to William Chou
17
September 2025
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Industry, Security, and Community: Senator David McCormick on the Nippon Steel–U.S. Steel Deal
Featured Speakers:
Senator David McCormick
Hiroshi Ono
Kevin Lewis
Stefani Pashman
Moderators:
Joel Scanlon
William Chou
(Courtesy of U.S. Steel)
17
September 2025
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Industry, Security, and Community: Senator David McCormick on the Nippon Steel–U.S. Steel Deal

Experts talk about why this deal supports American workers and communities, the major capital and technological investment, and how Nippon Steel’s investment advances American industrial and economic strength.

(Courtesy of U.S. Steel)
Featured Speakers:
Senator David McCormick
Hiroshi Ono
Kevin Lewis
Stefani Pashman
Moderators:
Joel Scanlon
William Chou
Learn More
02
April 2025
Past Event
America First and the Trump Administration’s New Investment Agenda
Featured Speakers:
Thomas J. Duesterberg
William Chou
Mario Mancuso
Getty Images
02
April 2025
Past Event
America First and the Trump Administration’s New Investment Agenda

Join Hudson’s Mario Mancuso, William Chou, and Thomas Duesterberg for a discussion about the Trump administration’s recently announced America First Investment Policy. 

Getty Images
Featured Speakers:
Thomas J. Duesterberg
William Chou
Mario Mancuso
Learn More
12
February 2025
Past Event
An Integrated Approach to US-Japan Cooperation with Southeast Asia
Featured Speakers:
Ken Jimbo
Kenan Arkan
Yuki Shimazu
David Byrd
William Chou
Moderator:
Kenneth R. Weinstein
U.S. and Philippine Coast Guard Bilateral SAREX
12
February 2025
Past Event
An Integrated Approach to US-Japan Cooperation with Southeast Asia

Hudson’s Japan Chair will welcome a panel of geopolitical, security, and economic experts to address the challenges and opportunities for US-Japan cooperation with Southeast Asia. 

U.S. and Philippine Coast Guard Bilateral SAREX
Featured Speakers:
Ken Jimbo
Kenan Arkan
Yuki Shimazu
David Byrd
William Chou
Moderator:
Kenneth R. Weinstein
Learn More
03
December 2024
Past Event
Why Local Stakeholders Support the Nippon Steel–US Steel Deal
Featured Speakers:
Chris Kelly
Jason Zugai
Jack Maskil
Moderator:
William Chou
The exterior of the US Steel Clairton Coke Plant on March 20, 2024, in Clairton, Pennsylvania. (Jeff Swensen via Getty Images)
03
December 2024
Past Event
Why Local Stakeholders Support the Nippon Steel–US Steel Deal

Hudson’s Japan Chair will host a panel discussion with stakeholders from the Mon Valley in Pennsylvania. Mayor of West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, Chris Kelly and USW Local 2227’s Jack Maskill and Jason Zugai will share their thoughts on the deal’s local impact.

The exterior of the US Steel Clairton Coke Plant on March 20, 2024, in Clairton, Pennsylvania. (Jeff Swensen via Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Chris Kelly
Jason Zugai
Jack Maskil
Moderator:
William Chou
Learn More
20
September 2024
Past Event
The Future of US and Allied Hypersonic Missile Programs
Featured Speakers:
Major General Heather Pringle, USAF (Ret.), PhD
Congressman Doug Lamborn
Admiral James A. Winnefeld Jr., USN (Ret.)
Mike White
John Plumb
Congressman Don Bacon
Congressman Donald Norcross
Congressman Vince Fong
Moderators:
Rebeccah L. Heinrichs
William Chou
Daniel McKivergan
A common hypersonic glide body (C-HGB) launches from Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai, Hawaii, at approximately 10:30 p.m. local time, March 19, 2020, during a Department of Defense flight experiment. (DVIDS)
20
September 2024
Past Event
The Future of US and Allied Hypersonic Missile Programs

Join Hudson for a workshop with congressional, government, and industry officials to discuss the future of the American hypersonic missile program. The Space Foundation’s Major General Heather Pringle, United States Air Force (ret.), will introduce a keynote address from Congressman Doug Lamborn (R-CO). Then expert panels will discuss the future of hypersonic missile offense and defense and how members of Congress can build a bipartisan consensus about the vital US hypersonic missile program.

A common hypersonic glide body (C-HGB) launches from Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai, Hawaii, at approximately 10:30 p.m. local time, March 19, 2020, during a Department of Defense flight experiment. (DVIDS)
Featured Speakers:
Major General Heather Pringle, USAF (Ret.), PhD
Congressman Doug Lamborn
Admiral James A. Winnefeld Jr., USN (Ret.)
Mike White
John Plumb
Congressman Don Bacon
Congressman Donald Norcross
Congressman Vince Fong
Moderators:
Rebeccah L. Heinrichs
William Chou
Daniel McKivergan
Learn More
27
June 2024
Past Event
Japanese Automakers: Driving Investment in the US and Strengthening Bilateral Ties
Featured Speakers:
Anita Rajan
Hideaki Fujisawa
Moderator:
William Chou
(Photo by Mira Oberman/AFP via Getty Images)
27
June 2024
Past Event
Japanese Automakers: Driving Investment in the US and Strengthening Bilateral Ties

Hudson’s Japan Chair will welcome Hideaki Fujisawa, economic minister (METI) at the Embassy of Japan, for a keynote address on the state of the US-Japan economic relationship and the role that the private sector plays in deepening ties.

(Photo by Mira Oberman/AFP via Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Anita Rajan
Hideaki Fujisawa
Moderator:
William Chou
Learn More
05
April 2024
Past Event
Stronger Together: The Importance of US-Japan Economic Relations
Featured Speakers:
Governor Eric Holcomb
Satoshi Miura
Kazumi Nishikawa
Anita Rajan
Thomas J. Duesterberg
Paul Sracic
David Rader
Moderators:
Kenneth R. Weinstein
William Chou
Japanese Cherry Blossom trees bloom along the National Mall on March 28, 2021 in Washington, DC. The Japanese cherry trees were gifted to Washington, DC, by Tokyo Mayor Yukio Ozaki in 1912 and draw tens of thousands of daily visitors around peak bloom every year. (Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images)
05
April 2024
Past Event
Stronger Together: The Importance of US-Japan Economic Relations

Hudson’s Japan Chair will welcome Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb to make a major economic announcement.

Japanese Cherry Blossom trees bloom along the National Mall on March 28, 2021 in Washington, DC. The Japanese cherry trees were gifted to Washington, DC, by Tokyo Mayor Yukio Ozaki in 1912 and draw tens of thousands of daily visitors around peak bloom every year. (Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Governor Eric Holcomb
Satoshi Miura
Kazumi Nishikawa
Anita Rajan
Thomas J. Duesterberg
Paul Sracic
David Rader
Moderators:
Kenneth R. Weinstein
William Chou
Learn More
24
January 2024
Past Event
Reinforcing a Free and Open Indo-Pacific
Featured Speakers:
James J. Przystup
Yuki Tatsumi
Greg Brown
Lisa Curtis
Moderator:
William Chou
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi attend the Quad Fellowship Founding Celebration event on May 24, 2022, in Tokyo, Japan. (Yuichi Yamazaki via Getty Images)
24
January 2024
Past Event
Reinforcing a Free and Open Indo-Pacific
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi attend the Quad Fellowship Founding Celebration event on May 24, 2022, in Tokyo, Japan. (Yuichi Yamazaki via Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
James J. Przystup
Yuki Tatsumi
Greg Brown
Lisa Curtis
Moderator:
William Chou
Learn More
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