Temple Japan announces ‘landmark’ $4.5 million gift to support scholarships for Japanese public high school students

Donation from Goldman Sachs Japan President Masanori Mochida—TUJ’s largest ever—will allow select graduates of Japan’s public high schools to attend TUJ for free

Temple University, Japan Campus (TUJ) today announced a $4.5 million gift from Masanori Mochida, president and representative director of Goldman Sachs Japan Co., Ltd. The gift—the largest TUJ has ever received—will create an endowed fund that will support scholarships offering access to a TUJ education for graduates of Japan’s public high schools.

TUJ’s Mochida-Stronach Public High School Promotion Program, named in part to honor Mochida’s longtime friend and former TUJ Dean Bruce Stronach, will select a cohort of Japanese public high school students annually based on academic merit to receive full-ride scholarships that will cover all tuition costs and fees for up to 10 semesters of undergraduate study. This includes the option of studying at Temple University’s Main Campus in Philadelphia for up to two semesters (tuition and fees only) as well as college preparatory studies in TUJ’s Bridge Program. Applications are now being accepted for the first cohort of Mochida-Stronach Scholars commencing their studies at TUJ in 2022.

In addition to being by far the largest single donation in TUJ’s 39-year history, Mochida’s gift will establish the school’s first endowed fund and allow TUJ to offer full-ride scholarships for the first time.

“On behalf of the Temple University Japan community, I extend our deepest gratitude to Mr. Mochida for his generosity,” said TUJ Dean Matthew J. Wilson. “His landmark gift will help generations of deserving Japanese public high school students pursue their dreams and take their first steps to leadership by opening the door to a high-quality international education at TUJ and joining our students from around the world.”

The path that led to the creation of the Mochida-Stronach Public High School Promotion Program began nearly 40 years ago when Mochida met Stronach, then a visiting lecturer at Keio University. They developed a warm and lasting friendship. Stronach helped teach the younger Mochida English and encouraged him to pursue a graduate business degree at the University of Pennsylvania’s prestigious Wharton School.

After Wharton, Mochida joined Goldman Sachs in 1985 as an associate in the Corporate Finance Division. Seven years later he became a partner. In addition to serving as president of Goldman Sachs Japan, he is a member of Goldman Sachs’ Management Committee and a co-chair of its Asia Pacific Management Committee. He is a member of the Goldman Sachs Investment Banking Division’s Asia Executive Committee and the Goldman Sachs Japan Co., Ltd. Executive Committee.

Temple President Jason Wingard has known Mochida since 2013, when Wingard was managing director and chief learning officer at Goldman Sachs.

“No one understands the transformative power of international education better than Mr. Mochida,” said Wingard, who was appointed president of Temple in June after serving as dean and professor of the School of Professional Studies at Columbia University. “His remarkable career at Goldman Sachs is a living example of that power to the young people of Japan and Temple students around the world. The Temple University community is honored and humbled to call him a friend.”

Mochida has spent much of his life working to raise awareness and funds to support young people living in poverty in Japan, particularly through Goldman Sachs Gives, the firm’s charitable foundation.

“For decades, Mr. Mochida has done so much to provide educational opportunities in support of the underprivileged in Japan,” said Stronach. “This wonderful gift to TUJ is a natural extension of that legacy, and will empower young people in Japan to follow in his footsteps and become future global leaders.”

To Mochida, an investment in the international education of Japan’s public high school graduates—many of whom don’t have the same level of access and exposure to international culture—is an investment in the nation’s future.

“For future leaders in Japan, access to a high-quality international education is critical,” Mochida said. “This scholarship will enable Japanese public high school students from all backgrounds to support the globalization of Japan through an international education at Temple University.”

The oldest and largest foreign university in Japan, the Japan Campus of Temple University delivers a world-class educational experience in English to nearly 4,000 undergraduate, graduate, and non-degree students from 60 countries. TUJ students have the opportunity to receive an American-style education while pursuing a degree from Temple University, a leading urban research university with a Main Campus based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 2019, TUJ moved into a new, purpose-built, six-story facility on the campus of Showa Women’s University in Setagaya-ku, Tokyo. TUJ will celebrate the 40th anniversary of its founding in 2022.

TUJ’s Mochida-Stronach Public High School Promotion Program

Masanori Mochida
PRESIDENT AND REPRESENTATIVE DIRECTOR OF GOLDMAN SACHS JAPAN CO., LTD.
Mr. Mochida was born in Tokyo in 1954. He joined the Daiichi Kangyo Bank (now Mizuho Bank) after graduating from Keio University in 1977. He received his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1985 and joined Goldman Sachs in the same year. He has served in his current position since 2001.

Dr. Bruce Stronach
FORMER TUJ DEAN
Dr. Stronach was born in Maine in 1950. He graduated from Keene State College in 1974 and obtained his Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University in 1980. After serving as a visiting researcher at Keio University in 1976 and as a lecturer at the International Center, he was appointed as Provost of Becker College (USA) in 1998. He was subsequently appointed as Acting President of Becker College and President of Yokohama City University, before serving as Dean of TUJ from April 2008 for a period of 13 years.