Bruce Stronach, the president of Yokohama City University, has been named the next dean of Temple University-Japan.

He is replacing Kirk Patterson, the outgoing dean who announced his retirement on Aug. 27, as reported by The Temple News.

Stronach, 57, was one of two finalists publicly announced. He and his competition, Mattew J. Wilson, 37, both came to Main Campus to meet with one half of the university’s advisory committee, as covered by TTN. 

Wilson is the precocious chief legal counsel of TUJ who had been serving as interim dean since Patterson left Dec. 17 and his term officially ended Dec. 31. If he had been elected, he would have been the youngest dean in that campus’s history.

Stronach has been serving as the head of Yokohama City University since 2004. Prior, he spent more than 25 years as an administrator, researcher, lecturer and professor split between institutions in Massachusetts and Japan.

In speaking with The Temple News, Stronach expressed an interest in further developing TUJ’s image as a permanent fixture of higher education in Japan and working on partnerships with other Japanese universities.

“I want TUJ to become more of a Japanese institution,” he said. “Not just the extension campus of Temple University.”

Still, he admitted not knowing much about the daily operations of TUJ, though he has a long friendship with outgoing Dean Patterson.

Neither Wilson, nor Stronach were immediately available for comment, due to international time differences.