A five-member delegation from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), led by Chancellor Gene Block, visited Tohoku University on July 2 and called on President Hideo Ohno.
Chancellor Block was last in Sendai in December 2011, soon after the Great East Japan Earthquake. During that visit, he spent time at Tohoku University and toured several areas badly affected by the disaster.
At the recent meeting in July - which also included Executive Vice President Tadahiro Hayasaka, Executive Vice President Toshiya Ueki, Vice President Masahiro Yamaguchi and Professor Yasuaki Onoda of the Graduate School of Engineering - President Ohno thanked Chancellor Block for the help and support provided by UCLA in 2011, and updated him on the reconstruction efforts in the region.
The two sides also discussed future student and researcher exchanges, and the workings of the international joint graduate programs.
President Ohno said that since the naming of Tohoku University as a designated national university last year, many new programs have been launched. He added that international cooperation and academic exchanges are instrumental in the implementation of these programs. With this in mind, he said that he hopes to raise the level of collaboration between Tohoku University and UCLA.
Chancellor Block echoed the sentiment, reaffirming UCLA's desire to create international programs that would appeal to students from Japan.
After the meeting, the UCLA delegation visited the new extension of Aobayama Campus. They viewed the facilities there, including the Agricultural Library and University House Aobayama, a large multicultural student housing complex due to open this October.
Contact:
Tohoku University International Exchange Division
Tel: +81 22 217-4844
Email: kokusai-r@grp.tohoku.ac.jp
