Nozawa Fellowship Celebrates Its 30th Anniversary in Tokyo

By Sanford Jacoby, Howard Noble Distinguished Professor of Management and Organizations and Director of the Nozawa Fellowship Program

UCLA Anderson celebrated the 30th Anniversary of its Nozawa Fellowship program with a reception at the International House of Japan on November 11, 2015. The program was founded 30 years ago with a generous gift to the school from the late George Nozawa and his wife, Kimiko. Since its inception, the program has helped more than 50 students from Japan to accomplish their academic goals in Anderson’s MBA and doctoral programs.

Mr. Nozawa, a Japanese-American businessman who imported Panasonic consumer products, created the endowment to bring Japanese business students to UCLA, and to serve as a catalyst to increase contacts between the business communities of Japan and the United States. The program is unique because it is the only fellowship dedicated to helping non-sponsored Japanese students to study at a business school in the United States. All non-sponsored applicants from Japan to UCLA Anderson are automatically considered for the Nozawa Fellowship. 

The program was attended by nearly 30 former Nozawa Fellows. Also present were other Anderson graduates working as senior executives in Japan. Delivering the keynote speech was Mr. Osamu Fukuya, Panasonic’s group manager of small appliances, who recounted the importance of Mr. Nozawa to Panasonic’s imports to the United States. The “National” brand of rice cookers imported by Nozawa Trading in its early days led the way to the importation of all other consumer electronics from Japan to the United States. Mr. Nozawa built his company into the most innovative one of its day. He is still remembered by former and current executives at Panasonic.

Another speaker was Ms. Mayumi Tamura, a Nozawa Fellow and former CFO of Seiyu GK. She now serves as auditor for Honda Motors’ board of directors. Ms. Tamura explained how the opportunity to attend Anderson on a Nozawa Fellowship allowed her to become one of the first women to hold a senior management position in Japan. Masaru Murai (’62), former CEO of Compaq Japan and president of TEP TX Entrepreneur Partners, represented the UCLA Anderson Alumni Association in Japan. Representing UCLA were Professor Hitoshi Abe, Director of the Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies and a renowned architect, and me, the current director of the Nozawa Fellowship program.

Graduates of the Nozawa program work in Japan, the United States and other countries. Video greetings came from former Fellows Mari Iwata, who is employed by Google in California, and from Yusuke Kurita, currently based in Dubai and employed by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.

The Nozawa Fellowship program is an important example of UCLA Anderson’s long–standing commitment to Japan and its desire to increase the number of non-sponsored students able to study business at UCLA.

All agreed that the evening was a delightful way to recognize the foresight of Mr. Nozawa in establishing the fellowships, the stewardship of the program led for many years by UCLA Anderson Professor William G. Ouchi, author of Theory Z, and the career successes of the program’s Nozawa Fellows.