Isao Tom Tsuruta

Isao (Tom) Tsuruta was born in Tokyo, Japan and has lived in the United States for the past 35 years and is a 1989 graduate of Lewis & Clark Law School. Mr. Tsuruta, as professor and Executive In Residence, currently conducts professional development seminars on international business strategies and transactions through the Business & Leadership and MBA Departments at Marylhurst University.  Previously, he served as Executive Vice President and General Manager of Aeon USA, Inc., a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of a $60 billion a year global retail conglomerate based in Tokyo, Japan. From 1999 to 2010 he served on the Board of Directors of Talbot’s, a $1.8 billion a year public company listed on the NYSE, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Agentrics, an Internet-based B2B exchange founded by 17 major retailers of the world with combined sales of $800 billion, as well as on the Board of Directors of Aeon USA Inc.  Mr. Tsuruta enjoys his continued affiliation with retail conglomerate Aeon Co. Ltd., as its senior adviser and also serves on various governance and compensation committees of a number of corporate boards. Mr. Tsuruta says much of his successful and extremely enjoyable career over the past 21years as an international corporate executive (his work involved Merger & Acquisitions, JV and Licensing, Corporate Governance and Administration and much global traveling) is attributable to the quality of the legal education that he received at Lewis & Clark Law School. He feels that the Law School is one of the best in the country and has a special attachment and sense of gratitude to the school even two decades after graduation. It is because of these feelings that he serves on the Board of Visitors to stay in touch and make whatever small contribution he can.