Sony Corp. said Tuesday it has appointed Iwao Nakatani, a former economics professor at Hitotsubashi University, as an outside director, effective immediately.

The decision followed the company's general stockholders' meeting Tuesday morning.

Nakatani resigned Monday from the state-run university after the National Personnel Authority refused to allow him to concurrently work at a private company.

The personnel authorities cited a regulation banning civil servants from also taking posts in private companies.

As an economist, Nakatani had served as acting chairman at the Economic Strategy Council, an advisory panel for Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi. He worked for Nissan Motor Co. for six years from 1965.

He will continue teaching at Hitotsubashi University as a part-time lecturer in the current school year, which ends next March.