Remembering Yusaku Furuhashi

Born in pre-war Japan, Yusaku Furuhashi left his home country in the 1950s to complete his undergraduate studies in the United States and stayed on to pursue his graduate studies. After earning his doctorate, he moved to South Bend to join the business school faculty at Notre Dame. Little did he realize that this would be the start of a lifelong career at the university, during which time he held roles as researcher, professor, and administrator. He served as the Department of Marketing Chair and twice served as Associate Dean and Acting Dean before becoming Dean of the College of Business.

He was also passionate about encouraging strong U.S.–Japan relations. He created and taught courses about Japanese business and helped to establish Notre Dame’s year-abroad program in Tokyo. In 1991, he founded The Center for U.S.–Japanese Business Studies which, as part of its activities, arranged Japanese internships for students interested in Japanese business and brought Japanese business managers to Notre Dame for a month-long program of educational programs.

Furuhashi was a humble, kind, wise, and hardworking man who truly loved Notre Dame, his work there, and being a member of the Notre Dame family. He was also a loving husband, father, grandfather, and friend. He appreciated the opportunities that he had been given in life and, in turn, brought an unwavering dedication to everything he did. Even after he retired, he continued serving as Director of The Center for U.S.–Japanese Business Studies until the day of his unexpected passing 10 years ago.

He would have been immensely pleased to have seen the great strides that the College of Business has made and happy to know that he was able to contribute in part to what it has become today.

Yusaku Furuhashi, the Kenneth Herrick Professor of Business Administration, twice served as acting dean (1974-1975, 1980-1982) before becoming dean  (1987-1988).