Last Updated: 2014.09.18
UNIQLO Establishes Fellowships with the Harvard Business School and the Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Supporting Six Japanese Nationals, for Three Years Beginning in 2015
UNIQLO Co., Ltd.
to Japanese page
UNIQLO today announces that it has established fellowships for Japanese students who have been accepted into the Harvard Business School (HBS) and the Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD), who do not already have corporate sponsorship.
Starting in September 2015, a total of $1.2 million (120 million yen) in fellowships will be awarded to six students (one annually per school) over the following three years, selected based on the strength of their application and a series of interviews (further details on Fast Retailing's website during September). UNIQLO will provide up to $200,000 (around 20 million yen) to each fellowship recipient at HBS. Tadashi Yanai, Chairman, President, and CEO of UNIQLO holding company Fast Retailing, will personally donate a total of $600,000 (about 60 million yen) over three years to fellowship recipients at GSD.
The fellowship program will provide world-class educational opportunities to promising individuals, regardless of their financial circumstances, to pursue careers as managers or designers. Recipients join the internationally diverse student body to study and cultivate their entrepreneurial skills and enhance their global perspective, preparing them for success.
Recipients will be chosen through interviews and documentation reviews. Tadashi Yanai and Professor Hirotaka Takeuchi of the Harvard Business School will conduct the final interviews for HBS fellowship candidates. Similar interviews for GSD fellowship candidates will be conducted by Tadashi Yanai and Mr. Toyo Ito, who is a frequent visiting instructor at Harvard University GSD from fall 2015. Fast Retailing will offer fellowship recipients enrollment in its internship program while they are studying abroad.
Commenting on today's announcement, Tadashi Yanai said, "Innovation lies at the intersection of design and business management. I look forward to seeing talented young people from Japan transform their aspirations into reality on the global stage."
Fast Retailing is leveraging its key UNIQLO brand, currently operating in 16 countries and regions including Japan, to become a truly global entity. Its Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives prioritize the cultivation of young people through fellowships and other programs in Japan and abroad. For more, see the LINK (https://www.uniqlo.com/en/csr/youth/harvard/).
CORRECTION NOTICE
Please note a correction to the above media announcement, disseminated September 18, 2014. Rather than Visiting Professor, Mr. Toyo Ito will join the Harvard Graduate School of Design in the capacity of frequent visiting instructor, from fall 2015.
