UPDATE | Alumni News
Distinguished Business Alumnus Award
Presented to Toshiba Chairman
(l. to r.) Assistant Professor Masaka Ueda, Dean Michael Knetter and Alumni Director Alisa Robertson were on hand in Kyoto to present the Distinguished Business Alumnus Award to Tadashi Okamura, chairman of Toshiba Corporation.
Tadashi Okamura, who heads Toshiba Corporation, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of electrical and electronic products and systems, was presented the Distinguished Business Alumnus Award of the UW-Madison School of Business in May. Dean Michael M. Knetter presented the award to Okamura, MBA ‘73, at the annual alumni event of the Japan Chapter of the Wisconsin Alumni Association in Kyoto.
The award is given in recognition of lifetime career accomplishments and outstanding public service, based on significant contributions to the business community and society.
Born in Tokyo, Okamura received his bachelor’s degree at Todai University there, he joined Toshiba in 1962. After coming to Madison for his MBA, he returned to Japan and Toshiba, working in the company’s instrument and automation division. He became Toshiba’s general manager of marketing and planning in 1989 and president and CEO in 2000. He has launched an ambitious series of reforms to increase the company’s profitability through intensified competitiveness and streamlined management.
Okamura serves as chair of the manufacturing group of Tokyo’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, chair of the board of councilors for the Association for Electric Home Appliances and chair of the board of councilors at the Graduate School of International Management at Aoyama Gakuin University. He and his spouse, Hiroko, have a son and
a daughter.
A Warm Welcome
The alumni event hosted by Wisconsin Alumni Association’s Japan Chapter in Kyoto offered an opportunity for School of Business representatives to meet alumni living in Japan who share fond memories of their time in Madison.
“As businesses become more global, it’s important for alumni to realize that they have a network of alumni around the world who share a common bond,” said Dean Knetter. “The alumni we met in Japan feel an incredibly strong loyalty to the university and their fellow alumni.”