History of FUTI

2007Hiroshi Komiyama, president of the University of Tokyo (2005-2009), discussed with Junji Masuda, then president of the New York Ichokai, about founding a non-profit organization to help support UTokyo’s globalization effort. Friends of Todai, Inc. (FOTI / 東大友の会) is established with Junji Masuda as its first president, and has since been run solely by volunteers to support the globalization of UTokyo.
2008The IRS determines the organization as a charitable 501(c)(3) organization and publicly supported 170(b)(1)(A)(vi). Activities as a charitable organization commence on a small scale with donations contributed primarily by founding members.
2009Shintech Inc., the US subsidiary of Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd., begins large recurring donations. Donations from UTokyo alumni residing in the US expand.
2010Research grants are awarded to the UC Berkeley/Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (UCB/IPMU) and Yale University. An MIT student is awarded a scholarship to study at UTokyo.
2011Hisashi Kobayashi becomes the second president of FOTI.
The FUTI Scholarship Committee is established and the short-term summer scholarship program is expanded. Six UTokyo students are supported to study in the US, and eight US university students are supported to study at UTokyo. Scholarships have since been awarded continuously.
2014To be consistent with the English colloquial name for the University of Tokyo, FOTI changes its name to FUTI (Friends of UTokyo, Inc.)
2015Masaaki Yamada becomes the third president of FUTI.
2016With a substantial donation from the Ito Foundation U.S.A., the Ito Foundation U.S.A.-FUTI Scholarship is established to support current students or alumni of UTokyo to attend universities in the US for mid- to long-term study. Since then, merit and need-based scholarships have been awarded to students to support their mid- to long-term studies.
2019The FUTI Alumni Association is founded by a 2015 scholarship recipient, Yuki Haba, who becomes its first president.
Iwao Ojima becomes the fourth president of FUTI.
2020The coronavirus pandemic limits students’ ability to travel across international borders and as a result scholarship support is given to attend online summer programs.
2022FUTI Scholarship Fund provides partial funding to provide need and merit-based support for mid- to long-term studies.