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.”