Message from the Dean

Celebrating Our Past, Looking to the Future

Temple University, Japan Campus (TUJ), was established 25 years ago. It was a daring - some said foolhardy - initiative, for the conventional wisdom of the time was that America should be learning from Japan, not the reverse.

We now know, though, that it was a very farsighted and inspired move. Backed by the hard work of our faculty and staff and with the strong support of Temple University main campus and the local community, TUJ has evolved into a unique, high-quality institution.

As discussed in our Mission and Vision Statements, TUJ was established in the recognition that we live in a world in which both problems and opportunities are borderless, in which individuals build lives and careers that span cultures and languages, and in which the pursuit of knowledge is a lifelong process. TUJ's vision is therefore to be the first choice for students seeking a truly international education. We strive to be widely known and highly regarded as the leader and innovator in blending the American educational tradition with a global intellectual perspective.

An important milestone in TUJ's history was reached in February 2005 when we became the first foreign university branch campus to be recognized by Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Today, we have almost 3,000 students from Japan, the United States, and around the world and offer a wide variety of undergraduate, graduate, and non-degree programs.

To guide our future development, we recently prepared a Long-term Academic and Business Plan that calls for TUJ to:

• Focus our resources on further developing seven Centers of Excellence:
  • Art;
  • Asian Studies and International Relations;
  • Communication Studies;
  • Education (TESOL);
  • Law;
  • Psychology;
  • Management Studies.
• Foster greater research and scholarship while continuing to maintain our commitment to teaching excellence;
• Establish a stronger TUJ brand;
• Build our own facility in central Tokyo.

As we celebrate our 25th anniversary, we look back at our accomplishments with pride. Among those accomplishments, we are most proud of having laid the foundation for an institution that will make a meaningful, enduring contribution to our students and to our community for many decades to come.

Kirk R. Patterson
Dean, Temple University Japan Campus