(From left to right: Executive Director Jeffrey Kim, EVP Ueki, Prof. Nakata)
On July 19, Executive Director of the Japan-U.S. Educational Commission (Fulbright Japan), Jeffrey J. Kim visited Tohoku University. Mr. Kim was cordially greeted by and met with Executive Vice President Toshiya Ueki and Professor Toshihiko Nakata.
EVP Ueki mentioned that many of Tohoku University’s current students and alumni have been recipients of the Fulbright scholarship. He also spoke about the 15th president of Tohoku University, Prof. Nakao Ishida, a former recipient of the Fulbright scholarship who had the opportunity to study abroad in the U.S. Thanks to this opportunity, Prof. Ishida brought forth notable research achievements here at Tohoku University.
The Japan-U.S. Educational Commission (Fulbright Japan) was established in 1979 and has since served as a bridge promoting educational exchanges and mutual understanding between the two countries.
The one-year tuition caps on both the Graduate Study Program and the Doctoral Dissertation Research Program have been removed beginning from the 2025 academic year onwards, affording a full-ride to Japanese Fulbright participants.
In addition to already providing aid to those in the field of humanities and social sciences, the Fulbright program also reopened the scholarship to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields for the first time in 50 years.
Mr. Kim emphasized during the meeting the importance of studying abroad to the next generation’s career development, and that pursuing the Fulbright scholarship is a viable means of studying in the United States.
An information session about the Fulbright scholarship and graduate school study abroad opportunities was then held for Tohoku University students. As the representative of the Japan-U.S. Educational commission, Mr. Kim gave a detailed introduction to the appeal of pursuing education in the United States and gave important points to consider when applying for the Fulbright scholarship.
Lastly, Senior Assistant Prof. Yukiko Shimmi from Tohoku University’s Global Learning Center attended the information session to speak about her own experience as a Fulbright alumnus. She spoke highly of her experience on the Fulbright Program and emphasized how beneficial studying abroad can be for career development.
（Information session on the Fulbright scholarship）