He is currently a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C. and, in April 2022, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as vice chairman of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation following his appointment by President Joe Biden.

[8][9] Fukushima's undergraduate education started at Deep Springs College and he completed a degree in economics at Stanford University.

While at Harvard, he earned a MA in Regional Studies—East Asia and completed all coursework necessary for a PhD in Sociology except his dissertation on comparative U.S.-Japan antitrust law and policy.

While at Harvard, Fukushima worked as a teaching assistant to prominent sociologist David Riesman along with influential Japanologists Ezra Vogel and Edwin Reischauer.

Based on his experience at USTR, he wrote a memo (Repairing the U.S.-Japan Relationship, January 4, 1994) that ended up on the desk of U.S. President Bill Clinton.

[16] Clinton added favorable annotations and circulated it widely to his cabinet and senior trade and economic officials during negotiations taking place under the US-Japan Framework Talks.

[10] In January 1993, he was offered the position of U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for International Economic Policy, but declined to continue his private-sector career.

[19] The person who later assumed the position, Charles Meissner, died with Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown and others in the 1996 Croatia USAF CT-43 crash.

[28][29] Since September 2012, Fukushima has been based in Washington, DC as a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress (CAP), a public policy think tank.

[5] His work has focused on U.S. foreign economic policy, international political economy, and U.S.-Asia relations, especially Northeast Asia (China, Japan, Korea).

It is led by a board comprising seven members, five appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, and two named by the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve, each serving a term of three years.

[52][53][54][55][56][57][58] Fukushima and his wife Sakie are philanthropists who regularly donate large amounts to support charities working to create educational opportunities.

[6] The donation was announced at the U.S. Embassy Tokyo with President Joe Biden and Ambassador Rahm Emanuel present and established the Fulbright-Glen S. Fukushima Fund to expand study and research opportunities for Japanese and Americans.

[42] He and his wife also donated $1 million to the Japan America Student Conference on its 90th anniversary in August 2024 to create the Glen S. & Sakie T. Fukushima JASC Alumni Fellowship Fund.