AsianScientist (Feb. 25, 2016) – The president of RIKEN, Professor Hiroshi Matsumoto, has just been awarded the rank of Chevalier in the French Legion of Honour in recognition of his contributions to educational, academic, and scientific exchanges between Japan and France. The award was presented by the French ambassador, Mr. Thierry Dana.
The Légion d’ honneur (Legion of Honour), which is France’s highest award, was established in 1802 during the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte. It has been awarded to 1,500 non-French citizens, with approximately ten percent being Japanese.
In particular, the recognition was given for his work in the creation of an accord for the mutual recognition of academic degrees between the two countries. He accomplished this while serving as the head of the Japan Association of National Universities.
In response to the award, Matsumoto said, “It is a great honor and one for which I owe much to my predecessors, including previous presidents of Kyoto University, the Japan Association of National Universities, and RIKEN.”
“I will do my best to live up to the expectations implied by this great honor by continuing my activities to contribute to exchanges between Japan and France and around the world. In particular, I hope to focus my efforts during my tenure at RIKEN on exchanges that will contribute to solving the serious problems we face in areas such as the environment, resource depletion, and pandemic diseases.”
An engineer and atmospheric scientist by training, Matsumoto the Kyoto University electro magnetic particle (KEMPO) code to reproduce the dynamics of the physical processes of space plasma. He has also worked on studies for the practical application of microwave power transmission in space.
Having served as president of Kyoto University from 2008 to 2014, he joined RIKEN as president in on April 1, 2015, succeeding Professor Ryoji Noyori. Since then, he has helped RIKEN transition from an independent administrative institution to a national research and develop institute.
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Source: RIKEN; Photo: Embassy of France in Tokyo.
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