President Ohle's Remarks Honoring Kansai Gaidai Chancellor

Gustavus Adolphus College President Jack R. Ohle delivers remarks at the June 27, 2010 memorial service of Dr. Sadato Tanimoto, the former chancellor of Kansai Gaidai University.

President Ohle was asked by the administration of Kansai Gaidai University to speak at Dr. Tanimoto's memorial service on behalf of Gustavus and the numerous institutions of higher education that have partnerships including student and faculty exchange programs and other relationships with Kansai Gaidai, a private university located in Hirakata, Osaka, Japan. The university focuses on foreign language studies, has an enrollment of approximately 15,000 students, and is known for its large Asian Studies program as well as its Intensive English Studies program for Japanese students planning to study abroad.

Chancellor Tanimoto devoted the majority of his life to the development of Kansai Gaidai and was 82 years old at the time of his death in late April. Gustavus students first studied at Kansai Gaidai in 1972 and a formal relationship was established with the university in 1974. Since then 22 Gustavus faculty members have taught at Kansai Gaidai, and 209 students have spent a semester or more studying there. Nine current Gustavus students will study at Kansai Gaidai during the 2010-11 academic year.

President Ohle had first met Chancellor Tanimoto in 1980 when Ohle was serving as Vice President of Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Nebraska.