Seven students who completed one of Tokyo Tech's leading graduate school programs and four students who completed the Tokyo Tech Academy for Leadership (ToTAL) program in academic year 2021 were honored in a graduation ceremony at Hisao & Hiroko Taki Plaza on Ookayama Campus on March 28, 2021. The ceremony was held in hybrid format for both in-person and online participants.
In-person participants at ceremony
Faculty members from various programs participating via Zoom
During his congratulatory speech, Tokyo Tech President Kazuya Masu lauded the graduates for not only completing their doctoral programs successfully, but also for acquiring broader perspectives and developing the attributes required of active leaders on the international stage through their chosen extracurricular programs. "I firmly believe that the discussions with your mentors and cross-disciplinary interactions with your fellow students have helped you all to grow significantly. The bonds you have formed with your peers in these programs will be a source of inspiration when you face challenges in the future," Masu commented. The president also expressed his gratitude to the faculty members who have dedicated their time to guiding students in these programs.
President Masu offering congratulatory speech to students
Brief comments by student representative Keisuke Kameda, graduate of Academy for Co-creative Education of Environment and Energy Science (ACEEES)
The president's speech was followed by brief congratulations from Provost and Executive Vice President for Institute Strategy Isao Satoh and Executive Vice President for Education Tetsuya Mizumoto. After the program participants were introduced individually, the ceremony concluded with words from student representatives of the various academies and a video message from Kaya Akagi, graduate of the Academy for Global Leadership (AGL), who could not be present. "The diverse activities I experienced at AGL have been a valuable asset in giving me direction and molding my future projects, and I would like to thank all the faculty and staff members at AGL for their support. I will continue to refer back to the leadership skills and experience I have acquired from you all, and I will do my best to share what I have learned with others," Akagi commented.
Video message from graduate Kaya Akagi
Comments from Marcos Kunihiro Masukawa, student representative of ToTAL graduates
Members of the Tokyo Tech community — particularly faculty, mentors, and staff involved in the Institute's leading graduate school programs — look forward to seeing how the latest program graduates exercise their leadership and expertise on the world stage.
Commemorative photo of program graduates, faculty, staff
Tokyo Tech Academy for Leadership (ToTAL)
ToTAL, established in academic year 2018 as the successor to the Academy for Global Leadership, is an institute-wide education center and platform through which students with different majors, nationalities, and cultural backgrounds learn to harness leadership skills in integrated master's and doctoral degree programs. Through interdisciplinary curricula that combine the humanities and sciences, students are encouraged to develop their leadership and interpersonal capabilities in a rigorous five-year program that culminates in a three-month off-campus project.
The four students who graduated from ToTAL in academic year 2021 were the first cohort to complete the program.
Tokyo Tech's Leading Graduate School programs
In response to demands from industry, government, and academia, Tokyo Tech established four highly competitive programs and academies in academic year 2011 — the Academy for Global Leadership, the Academy for Co-creative Education of Environment and Energy Science, the Education Academy of Computational Life Sciences, and the Academy for Global Nuclear Safety and Security Agent — to cultivate in graduate students the skills that would prepare them to become world leaders.
These programs were supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and run under its Program for Leading Graduate Schools.
MEXT funding for three of these programs ended in academic year 2017, while funding for the fourth finished in academic year 2018. The program curricula, however, continue to be offered as degree programs at the Institute.
