Tohoku University
東北大学
Motto	実学尊重の精神 (Value the Practical Study)
Established	June, 1907
Type	Public (National)
Endowment	US$-- billion (JP¥-- billion)
President	Akihisa Inoue
Staff	2,634
Undergraduates	10,692
Postgraduates	7,002
Location	Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
Campus	Urban, 2.5 km²
Athletics	-- varsity teams
Colors	Purple
Mascot	None
Website	www.tohoku.ac.jp

Tohoku University (東北大学 (東北大學 prior to 1945), Tōhoku daigaku^?), abbreviated to Tohokudai (東北大, Tōhokudai^?), located in the city of Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture in the Tōhoku Region, Japan, is a Japanese public university. It is the third oldest Imperial University in Japan.

The university has 10 faculties and 15 graduate schools with a total of about 17,800 students (2007)^[1]. The spirits of its foundation are "Research First(研究第一主義)" and "Open-door(門戸開放)" policies. In 1999, it was ranked no.1 in Asiaweek Magazine as Asia's Best University. In 2000, it was ranked no. 2 in the same magazine's Universities Ranking list^[2] In 2008, Tohoku University is internationally ranked 19th in the field of Engineering and Technology, and 35th in Natural science by ARWU. It is also ranked number 49 worldwide according to Global University Ranking in 2009.^[3] Another ranking system, HEEACT, put Tohoku 11th in engineering, 17th in natural science. As Tohoku University has been emphasizing on 'practical' research, Tohoku got the top place at the number of patents accepted during 2007 among Japanese Universities.

[edit] History

The administrative office

The origin of the university was Meirin-yokendo (明倫養賢堂, Meirin yōkendō^?), which was founded as a medical school in Sendai in 1736. It was reorganized a few times. Later it became Sendai Medical College (仙台医学専門学校, Sendai igaku senmon gakkō^?); this was the forerunner of the medical department of the university.

In June 22, 1907, the university was established under the name Tohoku Imperial University (東北帝國大學, Tōhoku teikoku daigaku^?) by the Meiji government as the third Imperial University of Japan, following the Tokyo Imperial University(1877) and the Kyoto Imperial University(1897). From its start, it has advocated "Open-door" policies. This stems from that it first began to accept female students as well as foreign students in Japan universities, the first in the country to do so.

In September 1907, it set up the faculty of Agriculture in Sapporo; Sapporo Agricultural College (札幌農學校, Sapporo nō gakkō^?) took the lead it. It set up the Science (1911), and the Medical Department (1915); the latter had been Sendai Medical College. In 1918 it ceded the Faculty of Agriculture to Hokkaido Imperial University. It subsequently launched Faculties of Engineering (1919), and Law and Literature (1922).

After World War II the university assumed its current name, Tohoku University (1947) and acquired a new Faculty of Agriculture. Furthermore, the old Faculty of Law and Literature was split up to form new faculties of Law, Literature, and Economics (1949). Further additions: Faculty of Education (1949), Dentistry (1965) and Pharmacy (1972). Tohoku has been a national university corporation since April 2004.

2007 was the centenary of Tohoku University.

[edit] Address

1-1-2-chome, Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-0077 JAPAN

[edit] Campuses

Tohoku University (Katahira campus north gate)

Principal five campuses are in the Sendai City, Japan;

• Katahira (片平, Katahira^?)

Administration Unit. and Principal institutes

• Kawauchi (川内, Kawauchi^?)

North-Kawauchi; The freshmen and sophomore of all undergraduates

South-Kawauchi; Law, Education, Economics, Letters

• Seiryo (星陵, Seiryō^?)

Medicine, Dentistry

• Aobayama (青葉山, Aobayama^?)

Science, Engineering, Pharmacy

• Amamiya (雨宮, Amamiya^?)

Agriculture

Amamiya campus and some institutes are planned to transfer from the present place to the New-Aobayama campus[2].

[edit] Organization

Graduate School of Science

[edit] Research Institutes

• Institute for Materials Research,IMR (金属材料研究所,金研, Kinzoku Zairyō Kenkyūsyo, Kinken^?)^[4]

National Collaborative Research Institute

• Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer (加齢医学研究所, Karei Igaku Kenkyūsyo^?)^[5]
• Institute of Fluid Science (流体科学研究所, Ryūtai Kagaku Kenkyūsyo^?)^[6]
• Research Institute of Electoric Communication (電気通信研究所, Denki Tsūshin Kenkyūsyo^?)^[7]

National Collaborative Research Institute

• Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials (多元物質科学研究所, Tagen Busshitsu Kagaku Kenkyūsyo^?)^[8]

[edit] Centers and Facilities

[edit] The 21st Century COE Programs

The 21st COE Program

[edit] People

[edit] Successive Presidents

Akihisa Inoue (left) talked with Mr. and Mrs. Zumwalt (Charge d'Affaires) at Tohoku University in 2009.

[edit] Notable alumni

• Koji Azuma, an educationist (Economics 2005)
• Masayoshi Esashi (江刺正喜), an engineer. He is the global authority of MEMS.
• Toshifumi Futamase (二間瀬敏史), astrophysicist
• Ben Goto (五島勉), a writer
• Kotaro Honda (本多光太郎), material scientist, famous due to KS steel
• Reizan Ido (井土霊山), a journalist, writer, poet, and liberal activist. He was involved in Freedom and People's Rights Movement
• Sumio Iijima (飯島澄男), discovered Carbon nanotube
• Akihisa Inoue (井上明久), a material scientist, who invented bulk metallic glasses
• Shizuo Kakutani (角谷静夫), mathematician and creator of the Kakutani fixed-point theorem
• Yasumasa Kanada (金田康正), a mathematician most known for his numerous world records over the past two decades for calculating digits of π.
• Nobuhiko Kawamoto (川本信彦), was the CEO of Honda Motor until 1995.
• Ryuta Kawashima (川島隆太), neuroscientist, currently resident professor, the supervisor of Nintendo DS gamesofts; "Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!" and "Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old is Your Brain?"
• Morio Kita (北杜夫), a novelist
• Fujio Masuoka (舛岡富士雄), developer of Flash Memory
• Katsuhiko Nishimori (西森克彦), a researcher of Oxytocin
• Jun-Ichi Nishizawa (西澤潤一), engineer known for his invention of optical communication systems (including optical fiber,laser diode etc.), PIN diode and SIT/SITh.
• Kazumasa Oda (小田和正), one of the most famous musicians in Japan.
• Tsutomu Oohashi (大橋力), a Japanese artist and scientist
• Hideaki Sena (瀬名秀樹), a SF writer
• Masatoshi Shima (嶋正利), invented CPU Intel 4004
• Kensaku Shimaki (島木健作), a writer in Showa period in Japan.
• Chusei Sone, film director
• Su Buqing (蘇歩青), Chinese mathematician and former president of Fudan University
• Kenji Suzuki (鈴木 健二), an announcer of the NHK
• Koichi Tanaka (田中耕一), The Nobel chemistry prize winner.
• Hirofumi Uzawa (宇沢弘文), an economist
• Lu Xun (魯迅), one of the most famous writers in China
• Shintaro Uda (宇田新太郎), inventor of the Yagi-Uda antenna 1926, The ubiquitous television antenna.
• Hidetsugu Yagi (八木秀次), Professor of Shintaro Uda and collaborator in the invention of the Yagi-Uda antenna 1926.

Besides them, many other famous alumni have notable achievements in diverse fields.

[edit] See also

• Imperial university
• Tohoku Mathematical Journal
• Institute for Materials Research
• Sendai
• List of National Treasures of Japan (writings)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Tohoku University
• Annual review
• Links