Kaoru TAKARA serves as President of National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED) from 2023. He also holds positions as Professor Emeritus of Kyoto University, Associate Member of Science Council of Japan (SCJ) from 2008, Secretary-General of Asia Pacific Association of Hydrology and Water Resources (APHW), Executive Director of the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL) and Chairperson of Japanese National Committee for International Water Resources Association (IWRA) among others. He received his B. Eng. (1979), M. Sc. (1981) and D. Eng. (1990) degrees from Kyoto University and his main research interests have been on hydrological analysis using advanced modeling of river basins and disaster risk governance. He is former Director of the Disaster Prevention Research Institute (DPRI) and Dean of Graduate School of Advanced Integrated Studies in Human Survivability (GSAIS) of Kyoto University. He published series of co-authored books, peer-reviewed papers in academic journals, and articles in annuals, journals and international conferences. He has significantly contributed to promoting international research activities through key initiatives including the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme (IHP), ICL and the Global Alliance of Disaster Research Institutes (GADRI). He had also taken central roles in the establishment of Japan-ASEAN Science, Technology and Innovation Platform (JASTIP) Disaster Prevention Program (WP4) and UNECO Chair on Water, Energy and Disaster Management for Sustainable Development (WENDI) at Kyoto University. As an educator, he has produced 48 doctors from Japan, Asia-Pacific countries, and other regions such as Brazil, Croatia, and Tanzania. He received a number of notable awards, including Long-Term Contribution Award from UNESCO-IHP Regional Steering Committee for Southeast Asia and the Pacific in 2015 and Distinguished Contribution Award from Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE) in 2022.