Former TUJ Dean Bruce Stronach receives an honorary doctorate from Musashi University during its commencement ceremony on March 22, 2023. Photo by William Galopin
Bruce Stronach, former dean of Temple University, Japan Campus (TUJ), was awarded an honorary doctorate from Tokyo-based Musashi University on March 22, 2023. The honorary doctorate from Musashi University is a testament to his contributions to promoting academic and cultural exchange between Japan and the United States.
Stronach, who served as dean of TUJ from 2008 to 2020, played a significant role in building partnerships between TUJ and other universities in Japan. During his tenure, TUJ and Musashi University signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate in academic programs in 2009, and they launched the credit exchange program in the fall semester of 2012.
“When I received the news that Musashi University was going to confer on me its first honorary doctorate I was tremendously honored and humbled,” said Stronach. “When I became dean of TUJ in 2008, I knew that as an American university in Japan, it was very important that we become an integral part of the Japanese higher education system by developing relationships with Japanese universities. I am proud to say that Musashi University was TUJ’s first Japanese university partner.”
Stronach continued, “Musashi Academy was founded 100 years ago on the principle of modernizing and internationalizing Japan, and it continues to this day to be dedicated to those ideals. It is dedicated to educating the youth of Japan to understand both Japan and the world, and to excel both as Japanese and individually. These are the goals of globalization. We must all learn how to deal with a world that is forever interdependent, without losing our individual or national sense of identity. As a faculty member, researcher, and administrator in both Japan and the United States, I have tried to bring together Western, liberal arts educational methods with Japanese culture, tradition, and behavior. If this honor means that I have had some little success in doing so, then I am tremendously grateful.”
Stronach oversaw TUJ for 12 years and helped with the relocation of the university to Sangenjaya in Setagaya in 2019 and he is the dean emeritus of TUJ. Prior to coming to TUJ, he served as president of Yokohama City University between 2005 and 2008. He also held positions as provost and chief operating officer at Becker College in Worcester, Massachusetts, and as dean of the International University of Japan in Niigata. As of April 1, 2023, he will become the president of Showa Boston Institute, the Boston campus of Show Women’s University.
He has authored or edited numerous articles and books, including Beyond the Rising Sun: Nationalism in Contemporary Japan and Politics East and West: A Comparison of Japanese and British Political Culture. The History of Temple University Japan: An Experiment in International Education, co-authored with former TUJ Dean Richard Joslyn, will soon be published by Temple University Press.
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in history from Keene State College in New Hampshire in 1974, Stronach earned two master’s degrees and a doctorate in international relations through graduate studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Science.
In September 2021, TUJ announced the establishment of the “Mochida-Stronach Public High School Promotion Program”, which was funded by a $4.5 million gift from Masanori Mochida, president and representative director of Goldman Sachs Japan Co. Ltd. The longtime friendship between Mochida and Stronach was the basis for the creation of the endowed fund that will support a full-ride scholarship that offers access to a Temple University education for graduates of Japan’s public high schools.
Other related stories
- Recipients of Inaugural Mochida-Stronach Scholarship Start Studies at TUJ. Selection Process for 2023 Candidates Begins (July 1, 2022)
- Temple Japan announces ‘landmark’ $4.5 million gift to support scholarships for Japanese public high school students (September 9, 2021)
- Moving On With Our Students – An Update from the Dean Stronach ( – September 13, 2020) (August 21, 2020)