Hoping to strengthen relationships with alumni, as well as industry and academic associates in Asia, Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef and his wife, Rosalie, will leave Sunday for a 10-day visit to Japan and Thailand. The Vanderhoefs will be accompanied by Mark McNamee, dean of the Division of Biological Sciences, and Celeste Rose, vice chancellor for university relations, as well as key campus alumni and development staff members. "Last year, UC Davis received just over $1 million in support from Japanese companies for our research programs," Vanderhoef said. "I'm delighted to have an opportunity to thank our international partners personally for their support during our upcoming trip. And in Thailand, we will be strengthening our academic ties with the three top universities." The trip will begin in Tokyo, where the group will spend six days meeting with executives from several automotive companies, including Honda, Subaru and Nissan. They also will meet with officials from Toyota in Toyota City. During that week they also will call upon representatives from NEC Electronics, Panasonic EV Energy Co. LTD, Sakata Seeds, Kikkoman foods, Kirin pharmaceuticals and the biotech firm Kazusa. The Vanderhoefs and the UC Davis contingent will be the honored guests Wednesday at an embassy reception hosted by the U.S. ambassador to Japan. The group will fly to Bangkok on Nov. 2 to meet with alumni and academic colleagues. They will be joined in Thailand by John Whitaker, professor emeritus of food science and technology. While in Thailand, Vanderhoef will sign agreements of cooperation with representatives of Assumption University, a private Catholic institution, and Kasetsart University, one of Thailand's major agricultural universities. He will also visit Chulalongkorn University. The agreements pledge the participating universities to general academic collaborations, with a special plan for UC Davis to assist Assumption University in establishing outreach programs for small-farm operators in Thailand. While in Thailand, the UC Davis group also will attend receptions in Bangkok hosted by Thai alumni of UC Davis. The chancellor last traveled to Asia in April, visiting Japan and Taiwan.