President Albrecht Welcomes Japanese Guests
An eight-person delegation from Japan visited with Utah State University President Stan L. Albrecht during an introductory meeting Monday, Feb. 13. The distinguished guests included Ms. Taeko Katagiri, president of Chubu Gakuin University; Richard Watts, an employee of Chubu Gakuin University; Mr. Eiichi Hayashi, president, Hayashi Corporation; Mr. Shin Mori, mayor of Kakamigahara City; Mrs. Mieko Mori; Mr. Hideto Matsuoka, director, Kakamigahara City; Mr. Masateru Hirose, manager, Kahamigahara City.
“I am deeply honored to meet with you today,” President Albrecht said. “On behalf of Utah State University, I welcome you.”
The delegation is trying to develop sister relationships between Kakamigahara City and its corresponding region and the state of Utah, as well as between USU and Chubu Gakuin University. A special focus is building relationships with the College of Education and Human Services, especially programs in the Department of Communicative Disorders and Deaf Education, and the Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation. The president of Chubu Gakuin University is interested in developing programs of this type at her school.
The group had earlier toured the Center for Persons with Disabilities.
“I am pleased you are interested in these areas,” President Albrecht said. “They are among the university’s strong programs. There are many things we can do in support of each other, including faculty and student exchanges.”
Through an interpreter, the guests thanked President Albrecht and said they were excited to be at the university. “We are also excited to eat ice cream,” the group said as laughter spread around the room.
The delegation, working with Steve Hanks, vice provost for international affairs, planned later visits with the Communicative Disorders Department and College of Education and Human Services Dean Carol Strong.
Gakuin University was founded in 1938 in Nagoya and Nagoya Daiichi Technical Institute. The Chubu campus was founded in 1996. Kakamigahara City created a partnership with Chubu Gakuin University to open the campus. The university has 15 departments in five colleges, including engineering, business administration and information science, international studies, humanities, and bioscience and biotechnology.
“The university coined the phrase ‘human well-being,’ and that is an emphasis for the programs we want to develop,” Chubu Gakuin President Taeko Katagiri said. “We are very interested in observing your programs.”
Kakamigahara City has a population of 136,000 and is located in central Japan. It is included in the greater Nagoya commercial area, along with Nagoya and Toyota City. It is home to the oldest existing air base in Japan, and industries include airplane and automobile manufacturing.
Techno Plaza is a research park created in October 2005 as a cutting-edge research center, with a focus on robotics and virtual reality technology. A strong focus is on bio-technology to treat and prevent three major illnesses — cancer, heart attacks and stroke.
Following a brief discussion of USU’s Innovation Campus, President Albrecht invited guests to tour the site and its resources.
President Albrecht (center) met with a delegation from Kakamigahara City, Japan, and Chubu Gakuin University. Faculty and student exchanges were discussed.
Taeko Katagiri, president of Chubu Gakuin University, shared campus information with USU President Stan Albrecht.
USU President Stan Albrecht (center) with Mr. Shin Mori, mayor of Kakamigahara City, and Ms. Taeko Katagiri, president of Chubu Gakuin University.
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