Keio University

Keio University or 慶應義塾大学 (Keio) - private higher education institution in Japan.

Keio University - Description

Keio has a proud history as Japan's very first private institution of higher learning, which dates back to the formation of a school for Dutch studies in 1858 in Edo (now Tokyo) by founder Yukichi Fukuzawa. Since the school's inception, the students of Keio have risen to the forefront of innovation in every imaginable academic field, emerging as social and economic leaders. In today's internationally interdependent world, Keio places great effort upon maintaining the finest teaching faculty and superlative facilities. Building on the knowledge and experience of their predecessors, today's Keio students strive to develop the leadership qualities that will enable them to make valuable contributions to tomorrow's society. Keio University is Japan’s first modern institution of higher learning. Founded in 1858 by Yukichi Fukuzawa, a highly respected educator and intellectual, it has distinguished itself over the last century and a half as a leader of education, research, and medicine in Japan. Keio’s continued commitment to education and research is guided by the principles of Yukichi Fukuzawa, in particular his spirit of practical learning—the process of thinking for oneself to identify problems and to formulate and test hypotheses in order to form a solution. Keio encourages its students to adopt this empirical approach in education, research, and medicine to propel the humanities and sciences forward.Keio currently offers over 40 undergraduate programs across 10 undergraduate faculties and schools—namely, those of Letters, Economics, Law, Business & Commerce, Medicine, Science & Technology, Policy Management, Environment & Information Studies, Nursing & Medical Care, and Pharmacy—and 80 master’s, doctoral, and professional degree programs across 14 graduate schools: Letters, Economics, Law, Human Relations, Business & Commerce, Medicine, Science & Technology, Media & Governance, Health Management, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Business Administration, System Design & Management, Media Design and the Keio University Law School. In addition to its undergraduate and graduate programs, the university maintains as many as 30 research centers on its six main campuses across the greater Tokyo area. These campuses are home to approximately 29,000 undergraduate students and 5,000 graduate students.Keio is driven by innovation and dedicated to research. It leads collaborative research with many prominent partners in industry, including such entities as Honda, Mitsubishi, Toshiba, and NTT, just to name a few. Moreover, with its tradition of medicine, Keio University has shown continued commitment to promote medical research and advancement of the life sciences at the Keio University Hospital and its numerous medical research centers. For example, Keio is one of the leading universities in Japan in the field of regenerative medicine, a topic of growing national and worldwide interest. The School of Medicine has recently produced highly influential findings such as spinal cord and myocardial regenerative medicine using stem cells. It also offers a sophisticated environment for translational research and scientific work that bridges the gap between basic science, clinical research and patient-care.Keio alumni are also renowned throughout Japan, with a number of distinguished entrepreneurs, politicians, and academics having studied at the university. The Times Higher Education Alma Mater Index: Global Executives 2013, which ranks institutions by the number of degrees awarded to CEOs of Fortune Global 500 companies, places Keio University 9th worldwide. Keio is particularly proud of its alumni and of the strong ties between the university and its graduates. Keio’s alumni organizations, called “Mita-kai,” are active across the globe to promote the exchange of information and sharing of mutual interests between the university and alumni, as well as among alumni themselves. Keio also highly values its international dimension, with over 250 partnerships with universities and organizations in more than 40 countries and upward of 1,300 international students. It is a member of several elite consortiums such as the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU), CEMS (The Global Alliance in Management Education), and T.I.M.E. (Top Industrial Managers for Europe). With its important task of advancing bilateral and multilateral relationships, and international academic exchange and collaboration, Keio operates offices abroad in New York, London, Seoul, and Shanghai. In addition to extensive student exchange between partner institutions, Keio offers a wide range of programs for international students, including a full-time Japanese language program, a score of double degree programs with prestigious partner institutions around the globe, and an increasing number of leading degree programs delivered in English