Honda Motor Co. appointed its first female board member today and promoted a foreigner to the highest position yet held by a non-Japanese in a move to inject wider outside perspective into its top management as it expands internationally.
Hideko Kunii, 66, is a professor of engineering and gender-equality promotion at Shibaura Institute of Technology.
Honda announced her appointment to the company’s 13-member board in a Feb. 24 release. She takes office in June, pending approval at the company’s general shareholders’ meeting.
She will be the first female director at a big Japanese carmaker; neither Toyota Motor Corp. nor Nissan Motor Corp. has chosen a woman for their top boards. She will be the second director from outside Honda to serve on the current board. The other is Nobuo Kuroyanagi, who was appointed in 2009.
