This was first posted on the Sophia University website.
The Sophia School Corporation Board of Trustees convened on September 30, 2024, and resolved to appoint Professor Miki Sugimura, from the Faculty of Human Sciences, as the next President of Sophia University.
Her term of office will be from April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2029. Sugimura will be the first female president in the university’s history since its founding in 1913.
About Professor Miki Sugimura
- Born on March 22, 1962 (aged 62)
- Ph.D. in education, University of Tokyo
- Specialization: comparative education, international education, and multicultural education
Professor Sugimura earned her Bachelor of Education from the Faculty of Letters and Education at Ochanomizu University in March 1985. She continued her studies at the University of Tokyo, where she received a Master of Education in March 1987 and completed the course requirements for a doctoral program in Education in March 1992. She was awarded a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Tokyo in December 1998.
At Sophia University, she served as a lecturer in the Department of Education, Faculty of Humanities, from September 2002 to March 2005. Following the reorganization of faculties, she continued as a lecturer in the Faculty of Human Sciences until March 2007. She was then promoted to Associate Professor, a position she held until March 2013, before becoming a full Professor in the same department, where she continues to teach.
In addition to her teaching roles, Sugimura has held significant administrative positions at Sophia University. She served as the Vice President for Academic Exchange from April 2014 to March 2017 and as the Vice President for Global Academic Affairs from April 2017 to March 2021.
Beyond Sophia University, she is currently a Visiting Fellow at the JICA Ogata Sadako Research Institute for Peace and Development, Vice Chair for the Promotion of Sustainability in Postgraduate Education and Research (ProSPER Net), a Visiting Professor at the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability, and a Senior Program Officer in the Social Sciences Group at the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Research Center for Science Systems.