December 18, 1998

Former Middlebury

College Professor Receives Award From Japanese Government

The Japanese

government has awarded Middlebury College Professor Emeritus Hiroshi

Miyaji with the Third Order of Merit with the Order of the Sacred

Treasure for his contributions to Japanese language education

in the United States. Miyaji, who is both a professor emeritus

of philosophy and the Cornelius V. Starr Professor Emeritus of

Language and Linguistics, traveled from his home in Weybridge

to Japan, where he received this imperial decoration in a ceremony

on Nov. 6. After the ceremony, he was given an audience with

the emperor.

Miyaji worked

in the field of language and philosophy education for 40 years.

In 1969 he founded the Middlebury College Japanese Language School,

where he was the director until 1978. From 1980 to 1982, he was

the vice president of foreign languages and director of the Middlebury

College Foreign Language Schools. From 1983 to 1996, Miyaji served

as both a professor of philosophy and the Cornelius V. Starr Professor

of Language and Linguistics at Middlebury.

He was the president

of the Association of Teachers of Japanese from 1990-1996.

Miyaji began

his work in 1959 when he took a position teaching Japanese language

and culture at Stanford University, where he earned his doctorate.

He then taught at the University of Oregon and the University

of Pennsylvania before coming to Middlebury.

Middlebury College

Japanese Professor Carole Cavanaugh, a friend and colleague of

Miyaji, said, “The award is an extraordinary honor. Dr.

Miyaji’s influence on Japanese studies has been felt across the

country and will have an impact on generations to come.”