(NEWS) 2015 Sasakawa Gathering Orientation

September

2015

2015 Sasakawa Gathering Orientation

On 23 September, the 2015 Gathering Orientation for the Sasakawa Fellowship Students was held at WMU. The event was hosted by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF), the organization that administers the fellowships that are funded by The Nippon Foundation. SPF was represented by Mr. Eisuke Kudo, Special Advisor to SPF, and Mr. Shinichi Ichikawa, Manager, Ocean Research and Development Department.

The Gathering Orientation takes place annually to promote connections between graduating and incoming Sasakawa-sponsored students to build a foundation for future interactions. The Class of 2015 has 22 Sasakawa Fellowship Students and the Class of 2016 has 21, all of whom took full advantage of the Orientation to start building those connections.

Mr. Kudo delivered opening remarks in the Sasakawa Auditorium and emphasized the importance of making connections with other Sasakawa Fellows to advance the network. A presentation by Mr. Ichikawa followed focusing on how the program was founded by The Nippon Foundation, how it has evolved over time and become administered by SPF, and how the funds available to The Nippon Foundation are generated from Japanese motor boat racing.

Presentations by five senior students were made to provide perspective on the specializations as well as the experience of studying at WMU. The evening concluded with a reception in the WMU World Bistro where WMU President, Dr. Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, greeted the group and noted the extraordinary support of WMU by the Nippon Foundation and SPF since 1987. Each student had the opportunity to introduce themselves before informal mingling allowed the students to visit with each other as well as their distinguished hosts from SPF. When the 2015 Sasakawa Fellows Reception takes place on 31 October, the number of Sasakawa Fellows will be 565 from over 60 countries.

The Nippon Foundation’s contributions to WMU began in 1987 with a 1 million dollar fund to provide fellowships for WMU students from Asia and Africa. The following year, the Foundation utilized the fund to establish the WMU Sasakawa Fellowship Program and began awarding fellowships to WMU students to support the development of personnel in the international maritime community. An additional fund worth 4 million dollars was instituted in 1991 in response to the request of IMO and the Japanese Ministry of Transport. Initially administered by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation(SPF) under the auspice of The Nippon Foundation, the recipients of The Nippon Foundation’s WMU fellowships became known as Sasakawa Fellows. Second only to WMU’s host country of Sweden, The Nippon Foundation, through SPF, is the largest fellowship donor to the University, providing 23-25 new awards on an annual basis.

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