Awards

Honorary Degree - 1980

LL.D.

Doctor of Laws

Commencement

Bloomington, Indiana

Presenter: John William Ryan

Distinguished Alumni Service Award - 1977

About Kaoru Ando

Kaoru Ando was one of Japan's most accomplished and distinguished citizens. He served his native country as an industrialist, an educator, and a developer of his profession, and Indiana University has been no less fortunate in the exceptional devotion he showed his alma mater. Mr. Ando, a student at Indiana University in the 1930s, received a B.S. degree in Business Management in 1936.

From his first appointment, following graduation, as special IBM representative in Japan, Mr. Ando began to play a key role in the development of Japan's electronic computer industry, an industry whose phenomenal growth now ranks it second only to America's. An especially significant contribution has been his assistance to the industry in its development of modern marketing and management techniques. Mr. Ando was one of the founders of Fujitsu, a corporation that has progressed and expanded to become one of the world's major computer manufacturers, and he served as President of Fujitsu Facon, Ltd., the marketing subsidiary of the Fujitsu Company.

Despite his many business responsibilities, Mr. Ando was always generous in his support of his professional associations. He was a member and trustee of the Information Processing Society of Japan, a society which he served as Executive Director in 1968-70 and has been the Director and an honorary advisor of the Japan Data Processing Association. In addition, he lent his thought and energies to numerous other business and civic groups such as the Nippon Office Management Association, the Advisory Committee on Computer Education, and the Advisory Committee on Employment for the Physically Handicapped.

Concurrent with his career in business and the administrative and civic responsibilities inevitably demanded of a successful businessman, Kaoru Ando participated in yet another indispensable component of Japan's revitalization: the education of its young people. Mr. Ando taught in several major universities, among them Kobe University (1942-47) from which he won official commendation in 1943 for his teaching: Sophia University (1950-57); and Keio University (1960-61). His fundamental advancement of business techniques also won Kaoru Ando accolades. In 1968 he was awarded the Distinguished Service Testimonial from the Nippon Office Management Association, and in 1975 Mr. Ando won the Distinguished Marketing Service Award conferred by Japan's Management Association. High national honor was accorded him in 1974 when his government bestowed on him its Blue Ribbon Medal in a ceremony which included an imperial audience. The American business community recognized Kaoru Ando as a major figure in the international business world by granting him Honorary Life Membership in the Data Processing Management Association of the United States.

Kaoru Ando was an internationally active alumnus of Indiana University. He served as President of the Alumni Association in Japan, was a gracious host to the numerous university officials and alumni who have visited Japan, and stood as guarantor for I.U. students studying in Japan. It was very much in keeping with Kaoru Ando's gratitude and respect for the education he received at his alma mater that his daughter attended graduate school here. For his active and important participation in the continuing life of Indiana University, Kaoru Ando was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Service Award in 1977.