New President’s Inaugural Message “Turning a crisis into an opportunity”

New President’s Inaugural Message “Turning a crisis into an opportunity”

Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU)
Yujiro Tanaka, President


Greetings everyone. I am Yujiro Tanaka, the new president of TMDU starting from April 1, 2020. It is an honor to work with you.

Due to the expansion of COVID-19, several university events have been and are being cancelled, which may have a tendency to depress our spirits.

I think many students and faculty members are concerned about how soon the new semester will start. But even amid such concerns, the beautiful cherry blossoms put people’s minds at ease.

It is said that a crisis is really an opportunity in disguise. Even now in these hard times signs of reform are appearing like the full bloom of the cherry trees.

In other words, aiming for efficiency by introducing e-learning and telecommuting systems actively and eliminating pointless processes are a perfect chance to seize and materialize the reform.

Everyone’s effort will turn this crisis into new opportunities. Let’s show society the distinctive total healthcare style of TMDU through our education, research and medical care.

By the way, I have a taste for classical music. My understanding of an ideal orchestra is that the director works within a general framework, where each player listens to each other, revealing their special abilities and thus creating excellent music in harmony. In my mind, a university is no different.

Under the great principle that the students are the core of education, academic freedom is the core of research, and patients and their families are the core of medical care, I urge TMDU students and university faculty to display their distinctive characteristics while respecting each other in order to materialize TMDU’s vision: “Cultivating Professionals with Knowledge and Humanity thereby Contributing to People’s Well-Being.”

Once again, thank you for your cooperation.