Tsuzuki Family Gives $3.5M to University

By Susan Young

Special to the Gazette

Building upon their longstanding commitment to improving education, Yasuhisa and Kimiko Tsuzuki of Fukuoka, Japan, have pledged $3.5 million to the University Campaign.

Yasuhisa Tsuzuki is the president and his wife, Kimiko, is the vice president of Japan's Tsuzuki Integrated Educational Institution, a group of schools founded 40 years ago by Mr. Tsuzuki's parents, Yorisuke and Sadae Tsuzuki.

Most of the gift -- $2.5 million -- will be used to establish the Sadae Tsuzuki Professorship at the Graduate School of Education, which will focus on early childhood development viewed from an international perspective. The remaining $1 million will support scholarship aid, research activities, and travel grants for Harvard University faculty and students.

"The Tsuzuki family has long had a powerful devotion to creative and effective education," said President Neil L. Rudenstine. "This gift reaffirms and extends that strong family tradition, and we are deeply grateful to the Tsuzuki family for their exceptional generosity. Their commitment to the campaign makes a timely and important statement about the value of international perspectives on education, and it will do a great deal to advance our understanding of childhood learning in different societies and cultures."

"By supporting a faculty position in early childhood development, the Tsuzuki family has expanded its commitment to improved global education," said HGSE Dean Jerome T. Murphy, who will visit the family in Japan in June.

HGSE professors Robert A. LeVine and Robert L. Selman, HGSE research associate Sarah E. LeVine, and HGSE dean of development and external relations Dudley F. Blodget met with the Tsuzuki family in Japan in April. The delegation toured several Tsuzuki schools and attended the opening academic ceremonies of the Tsuzuki Integrated Educational Institution.

The Tsuzuki Integrated Educational Institution is one of the largest groups of educational facilities in Japan, consisting of 45 schools at the kindergarten, high school, junior college, and university level. In Japan, the Tsuzuki family is a staunch supporter of professional training and individual creativity. They provide vocational training in their upper-level schools while their kindergartens encourage independent thinking. These schools currently serve 52,000 students, with over 200,000 graduates.

"The broad range of courses and activities our schools offer illustrates our commitment to developing individual talents. Pharmaceutical, social science, and technical concentrations are at the core of our technical universities; liberal education is the focus of our junior colleges; our technical schools offer business studies in addition to technical training; our high schools offer a broad curriculum; and our kindergartens provide environments where infants are able to learn through play," said the Tsuzuki family.

The family visited the Education School last December to meet with Dean Murphy and several HGSE faculty members, including Robert A. LeVine, Katherine K. Merseth, Henry Rosovsky, Howard E. Gardner, and Catherine E. Snow. "Our philosophy is to foster real-life education through the development of individual strengths," said the family.

Yasuhisa Tsuzuki earned a B.A. from Fukuoka Educational University in 1959 and an M.A. from Waseda University in 1961, both in European history. Kimiko Tsuzuki earned a B.A. from Fukuoka Women's University in 1969 and a Ph.D. from Baikou Women's University in 1981, both in Japanese literature. She has taught education as well as served as a school principal.

"In today's rapidly global world, the growing importance of international education is becoming more evident. Our partnership with the Harvard Graduate School of Education will surely lead to the development of a better understanding between Japan and the United States," said the Tsuzuki family.