30 Notable alumni of
Nagoya University

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Nagoya University is 377th in the world, 71st in Asia, and 31st in Japan by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 30 notable alumni from Nagoya University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. 3 individuals affiliated with Nagoya University won Nobel Prizes in Physics and Chemistry.

  1. Shōichirō Toyoda

    Shōichirō Toyoda
    Born in
    Japan Flag Japan
    Years
    1925-2023 (aged 98)
    Enrolled in Nagoya University
    Studied in 1944-1947
    Occupations
    engineerbusinessperson
    Biography

    Shoichiro Toyoda was a Japanese business executive who served as chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation from 1992 to 1999, as well as chairman of the influential Japan Business Federation (日本経済団体連合会, Nippon Keidanren) from 1994 to 1998. Under Toyoda's leadership, Toyota started manufacturing vehicles overseas and undertook the development of the Lexus brand. He was the grandson of the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works founder Sakichi Toyoda and the son of the Toyota Motor founder Kiichiro Toyoda.

  2. Gotō Shinpei

    Gotō Shinpei
    Born in
    Japan Flag Japan
    Years
    1857-1929 (aged 72)
    Occupations
    diplomatpoliticianphysicianbusinesspersonstatesperson
    Biography

    Count Gotō Shinpei was a Japanese politician, physician and cabinet minister of the Taishō and early Shōwa period Empire of Japan. He served as the head of civilian affairs of Taiwan under Japanese rule, the first director of the South Manchuria Railway, the seventh mayor of Tokyo City, the first Chief Scout of Japan, the first Director-General of NHK, the third principal of Takushoku University, and in a number of cabinet posts. Gotō was one of the most important politicians and administrators in Japanese national government during a time of modernization and reform in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

  3. Shuji Nakamura

    Shuji Nakamura
    Born in
    Japan Flag Japan
    Years
    1954-.. (age 70)
    Occupations
    physicistinventorengineerprofessor
    Biography

    Shuji Nakamura is a Japanese-American electronic engineer and inventor of the blue LED, a major breakthrough in lighting technology. Nakamura specializes in the field of semiconductor technology, and he is a professor of materials science at the College of Engineering of the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).

  4. Osamu Shimomura

    Osamu Shimomura
    Born in
    Japan Flag Japan
    Years
    1928-2018 (aged 90)
    Occupations
    marine biologistbiochemistchemistprofessororganic chemist
    Biography

    Osamu Shimomura was a Japanese organic chemist and marine biologist, and professor emeritus at Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts and Boston University School of Medicine. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2008 for the discovery and development of green fluorescent protein (GFP) with two American scientists: Martin Chalfie of Columbia University and Roger Tsien of the University of California-San Diego.

  5. Ayuko Suzuki

    Ayuko Suzuki
    Born in
    Japan Flag Japan
    Years
    1991-.. (age 33)
    Occupations
    athletics competitor
    Biography

    Ayuko Suzuki is a Japanese long-distance runner. She competed in the 5000 metres at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing finishing ninth. In addition, she won two medals at the 2013 Summer Universiade.

  6. Hiroshi Amano

    Hiroshi Amano
    Awards
    Nobel Prize in Physics in 2014
    Born in
    Japan Flag Japan
    Years
    1960-.. (age 64)
    Enrolled in Nagoya University
    Studied in 1988
    Occupations
    university teacherphysicistengineer
    Biography

    Hiroshi Amano is a Japanese physicist, engineer and inventor specializing in the field of semiconductor technology. For his work he was awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics together with Isamu Akasaki and Shuji Nakamura for "the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources".

  7. Toshihide Maskawa

    Toshihide Maskawa
    Born in
    Japan Flag Japan
    Years
    1940-2021 (aged 81)
    Occupations
    physicistprofessortheoretical physicist
    Biography

    Toshihide Maskawa was a Japanese theoretical physicist known for his work on CP-violation who was awarded one quarter of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics "for the discovery of the origin of the broken symmetry which predicts the existence of at least three families of quarks in nature."

  8. Ryōji Noyori

    Ryōji Noyori
    Awards
    Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2001
    Born in
    Japan Flag Japan
    Years
    1938-.. (age 86)
    Occupations
    professorchemist
    Biography

    Ryōji Noyori is a Japanese chemist. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2001, Noyori shared a half of the prize with William S. Knowles for the study of chirally catalyzed hydrogenations; the second half of the prize went to K. Barry Sharpless for his study in chirally catalyzed oxidation reactions (Sharpless epoxidation).

  9. Takeshi Umehara

    Takeshi Umehara
    Born in
    Japan Flag Japan
    Years
    1925-2019 (aged 94)
    Occupations
    writeruniversity teacheropinion journalistplaywrightphilosopher
    Biography

    Takeshi Umehara was born in Miyagi Prefecture in Tōhoku and graduated from the philosophical faculty of Kyoto University in 1948. He taught philosophy at Ritsumeikan University and was subsequently appointed president of the Kyoto City University of Arts. He is noted for his prolific essays on Japanese culture, in which he has endeavoured to refound the discipline of Japanese studies along more Japanocentric lines, notably in his book Nihongaku kotohajime (日本学事始) written in 1972 in collaboration with Shunpei Ueyama. Aside from his voluminous academic essays on numerous aspects of Japanese culture he has also composed theatrical works on figures as varied as Yamato Takeru and Gilgamesh.

  10. Takeshi Uchiyamada

    Takeshi Uchiyamada
    Born in
    Japan Flag Japan
    Years
    1946-.. (age 78)
    Occupations
    international forum participantentrepreneur
    Biography

    Takeshi Uchiyamada is a Japanese businessman, who has been chairman of Toyota since 2013. He graduated from Nagoya University. He is known as the "father of the Prius" for his role in leading the development of the Toyota Prius, the world's best-selling hybrid electric vehicle in history.

  11. Isamu Akasaki

    Isamu Akasaki
    Awards
    Nobel Prize in Physics in 2014
    Born in
    Japan Flag Japan
    Years
    1929-2021 (aged 92)
    Occupations
    physicistengineerresearcherprofessor
    Biography

    Isamu Akasaki was a Japanese engineer and physicist, specializing in the field of semiconductor technology and Nobel Prize laureate, best known for inventing the bright gallium nitride (GaN) p-n junction blue LED in 1989 and subsequently the high-brightness GaN blue LED as well.

  12. Uichiro Niwa

    Uichiro Niwa
    Born in
    Japan Flag Japan
    Years
    1939-.. (age 85)
    Occupations
    businesspersondiplomat
    Biography

    Uichiro Niwa is a Japanese diplomat and businessman who served as the Ambassador of Japan to the People's Republic of China and president and chairman of Itochu Corporation. Chairman of The Society of Global Business (SGB)

  13. Makoto Kobayashi

    Makoto Kobayashi
    Born in
    Japan Flag Japan
    Years
    1944-.. (age 80)
    Occupations
    theoretical physicistphysicist
    Biography

    Makoto Kobayashi is a Japanese physicist known for his work on CP-violation who was awarded one-fourth of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics "for the discovery of the origin of the broken symmetry which predicts the existence of at least three families of quarks in nature."

  14. Masayoshi Takemura

    Masayoshi Takemura
    Born in
    Japan Flag Japan
    Years
    1934-2022 (aged 88)
    Occupations
    bureaucratpoliticianprofessor
    Biography

    Masayoshi Takemura was a Japanese politician. Elected as a representative of the Liberal Democratic Party, in 1993 he broke away to form New Party Sakigake, before joining the newly formed Democratic Party of Japan in 1997. He served as chief cabinet secretary and then finance minister in the Japanese government of the mid-1990s.

  15. Shigeki Iwai

    Shigeki Iwai
    Born in
    Japan Flag Japan
    Years
    1968-.. (age 56)
    Occupations
    politician
    Biography

    Shigeki Iwai is a Japanese politician who has served as a member of the House of Councillors of Japan since 2010. He represents the Shizuoka at-large district and is a member of the Liberal Democratic Party.

  16. Koji Nakanishi

    Koji Nakanishi
    Born in
    United Kingdom Flag United Kingdom
    Years
    1925-2019 (aged 94)
    Occupations
    chemistuniversity teacher
    Biography

    Koji Nakanishi was a Japanese chemist who studied bioorganic chemistry and natural products. He served as Centennial Professor of Chemistry and chair of the Chemistry Department at Columbia University.

  17. Tsuneko Okazaki

    Tsuneko Okazaki
    Born in
    Japan Flag Japan
    Years
    1933-.. (age 91)
    Occupations
    biologistgeneticistuniversity teachermolecular biologist
    Biography

    Tsuneko Okazaki is a Japanese pioneer of molecular biology known for her work on DNA replication and specifically for discovering Okazaki fragments, along with her husband Reiji. Dr. Tsuneko Okazaki has continued to be involved in academia, contributing to more advancements in DNA research.

  18. Mitsunori Okamoto

    Mitsunori Okamoto
    Born in
    Japan Flag Japan
    Years
    1971-.. (age 53)
    Enrolled in Nagoya University
    In 1990 studied medical school
    Occupations
    politicianinternist
    Biography

    Mitsunori Okamoto is a Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan, a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Yōkaichi, Shiga and graduate of Nagoya University, he obtained his medical license in 1996 and received his Ph.D in medicine from Nagoya University. He was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 2003. He was defeated in the 2005 election. He ran again to the House of Representatives in 2009 in the 9th district of Aichi defeating Prime Minister from 1989 to 1991, Toshiki Kaifu in a stunning upset.

  19. Yoshito Kishi

    Yoshito Kishi
    Born in
    Japan Flag Japan
    Years
    1937-2023 (aged 86)
    Enrolled in Nagoya University
    Graduated with Doctor of Philosophy
    Occupations
    researcherchemistprofessor
    Biography

    Yoshito Kishi was a Japanese chemist who was the Morris Loeb Professor of Chemistry at Harvard University. He was known for his contributions to the sciences of organic synthesis and total synthesis.

  20. Masayoshi Nagata

    Masayoshi Nagata
    Born in
    Japan Flag Japan
    Years
    1927-2008 (aged 81)
    Enrolled in Nagoya University
    Studied in 1947-1950
    Occupations
    university teachermathematician
    Biography

    Masayoshi Nagata was a Japanese mathematician, known for his work in the field of commutative algebra.

  21. Kirio Urayama

    Kirio Urayama
    Born in
    Japan Flag Japan
    Years
    1930-1985 (aged 55)
    Occupations
    screenwriterfilm director
    Biography

    Kirio Urayama was a Japanese film director and screenwriter.

  22. Masatoshi Takeichi

    Masatoshi Takeichi
    Born in
    Japan Flag Japan
    Years
    20th Century
    Occupations
    researcherbiologist
    Biography

    Masatoshi Takeichi is a Japanese cell biologist known for his identification of the cadherin class of adhesion molecules, which plays important roles in the construction of tissues. He shared the 2005 Japan Prize with Erkki Ruoslahti for "fundamental contribution in elucidating the molecular mechanisms of cell adhesion".

  23. Masatoshi Gündüz Ikeda

    Masatoshi Gündüz Ikeda
    Years
    1926-2003 (aged 77)
    Enrolled in Nagoya University
    Studied in 1953-1954
    Occupations
    professormathematician
    Biography

    Masatoşi Gündüz İkeda, was a Japanese-born Turkish mathematician known for his contributions to the field of algebraic number theory.

  24. Tomoji Abe

    Tomoji Abe
    Born in
    Japan Flag Japan
    Years
    1903-1973 (aged 70)
    Occupations
    novelistliterary critictranslatorwriter
    Biography

    Tomoji Abe was a Japanese novelist, social critic, humanist, and translator of English and American literature. Although he began writing as a modernist, in his later works he represented the intellectual movement in Japanese literature. This movement departed from Japanese traditional thinking and from established forms of narration, which focused on esthetic values and emotional states of mind (such as appear in the works of Junichiro Tanizaki and Ryunosuke Akutagawa); it also departed from modernist views, which continued to be popular in world literature and in Japan (Japanese modernist writers included Haruo Satō, Sei Ito, Tatsuo Hori, Riichi Yokomitsu and Yasunari Kawabata). Abe's intellectual approach was incompatible with the socio-political atmosphere of Japan in the early Shōwa period (1925–1945), with rising fascism and militarism, and the crusade to preserve Japanese feudal traditions.

  25. Takeyuki Watanabe

    Takeyuki Watanabe
    Born in
    Japan Flag Japan
    Years
    1968-.. (age 56)
    Occupations
    politician
    Biography

    Takeyuki Watanabe is a Japanese politician who has served as a member of the House of Councillors of Japan since 2010. He represents the Gifu at-large district and is a member of the Liberal Democratic Party.

  26. Haruhiko Okumura

    Haruhiko Okumura
    Born in
    Japan Flag Japan
    Years
    1951-.. (age 73)
    Occupations
    university teachercomputer scientist
    Biography

    Haruhiko Okumura is a Japanese professor.

  27. Tohru Fukuyama

    Tohru Fukuyama
    Born in
    Japan Flag Japan
    Years
    1948-.. (age 76)
    Occupations
    chemistuniversity teacher
    Biography

    Tohru Fukuyama is a Japanese organic chemist and Professor of Chemistry at University of Tokyo in Japan. He discovered the Fukuyama coupling in 1998.

  28. Akihiko Yamamoto

    Akihiko Yamamoto
    Years
    1947-.. (age 77)
    Occupations
    politician
    Biography

    Akihiko Yamamoto was a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Aichi Prefecture and graduate of Nagoya University, he was elected to the first of his three terms in Aichi Prefectural Assembly in 1987 and then to the House of Representatives for the first time in 2000. He was defeated in the 2009 election by Kazuyoshi Morimoto of the Democratic Party of Japan.

  29. Takao Kondō

    Takao Kondō
    Born in
    Japan Flag Japan
    Years
    1948-2023 (aged 75)
    Enrolled in Nagoya University
    In 1977 graduated with Doctor of Philosophy in biology
    Occupations
    researcherbiologistmicrobiologist
    Biography

    Takao Kondo was a Japanese biologist and professor of biological science at Nagoya University in Nagoya, Japan. He is best known for reconstituting the circadian clock in vitro.

  30. Atsunobu Tomomatsu

    Atsunobu Tomomatsu
    Born in
    Japan Flag Japan
    Years
    1948-.. (age 76)
    Occupations
    agronomist
    Biography

    Atsunobu Tomomatsu is a Japanese scholar in international relations. His specializations are studies of international cooperation, technical cooperation and international exchange. He is professor emeritus at Utsunomiya University, Japan.