UNIQLO has announced that it has established fellowships for Japanese students who have been accepted into the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and the Harvard Business School.
The UNIQLO GSD Fellowship is for Japanese students who have been accepted into the GSD and who have not been sponsored by another organization or corporation. Tadashi Yanai, Chairman, President, and CEO of UNIQLO holding company Fast Retailing, will personally fund the program. This fellowship program, starting in September 2015, will award a total of $600K over the next three years to students from Japan attending the GSD. The objective is to provide promising individuals, regardless of their financial circumstances, the opportunity to become world leaders in the design field.
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.”
Recipients will be chosen through interviews with Mr. Yanai and Toyo Ito, a frequent visiting instructor at the GSD, and application review. In addition to the fellowship, Fast Retailing will offer fellowship recipients enrollment in its internship program while they are studying abroad.
This program provides 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.
Tadashi Yanai pictured with Dean Mohsen Mostafavi at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Photo Courtesy of Harvard GSD.