International Business and Education Leader Yoji Unoki to Receive Honorary Doctorate from CSUEB

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Yoji Unoki

  • May 12, 2016

Cal State East Bay will confer an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree to Yoji Unoki, a leader at a private university in Japan and former businessman, in recognition of his extraordinary professional achievements, outstanding civic leadership and exemplary support for education. Unoki will receive the honorary doctorate at Cal State East Bay’s commencement ceremony on June 11 at 9 a.m. on the Hayward campus.

“Yoji Unoki has made impressive contributions throughout his career as a business, education and civic leader,” said Cal State East Bay President Leroy M. Morishita. “We value our relationship with the Fukuoka Institute of Technology, where Yoji Unoki has proven himself to be a true pioneer in education and look forward to our continued partnership.”

After graduating from Hosei University in Tokyo with a degree in law, Unoki began a career spanning 27 years at the Japanese retail giant Daiei Incorporated. Initially hired as a manager, he rose through the ranks, eventually becoming executive advisor to the president of Daiei Incorporated. In 1988, Unoki was named CEO of the new Daiei Hawks, a professional baseball team based in Fukuoka, Japan’s sixth largest city located on the northern shore of the island of Kyushu. Under Unoki’s leadership, a 47,000-seat domed stadium was built — the first of its kind in Japan ­— as well as Hawks Town, a community development surrounding the stadium. 

In 1991, he was named councilor to Fukuoka University of Education, and a few years later, became managing director and councilor of Fukuoka Institute of Technology. After assuming the position of chairman and CEO, Unoki developed a progressive and transformative plan to advance the university by establishing several engineering departments and a graduate school to prepare students for the 21st century.

A hallmark of the educational philosophy Unoki has championed includes the transformational benefits of cultural exchange. Since 2003, Cal State East Bay has partnered with FIT in a series of unique programs designed to bring change to education in Japan and America.

Together, the two universities have developed diverse, multicultural and meaningful educational experiences for students, faculty and administrators. Students have participated in immersive programs concentrated on peer mentoring and language, as well as athletic and artistic exchanges. Over the years, teams of FIT administrators with knowledge in specific areas of study have also visited Cal State East Bay. One of the more intensive programs has involved embedding FIT faculty with CSUEB’s College of Science faculty to examine best practices in pedagogy and instruction.