Japanese government honors Dr. Takayuki Kuroda for his significant contributions to academics, specialty of orthodontics
On May 12, 2016, Dr. Takayuki Kuroda received one of the Japanese government’s most prestigious awards, The Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon, in honor of his lifelong contributions to the academic world and the orthodontic specialty.
Dr. Kuroda is professor emeritus of the Tokyo Medical & Dental University in Tokyo, Japan, past president of the International Association for Dental Research and an honorary member of the Japanese Orthodontic Society. Dr. Kuroda also served on the first Executive Committee of the WFO from 1995 to 2000. In 2010, the WFO bestowed honorary fellowship upon him during the 7th International Orthodontic Congress® (IOC) in Sydney, Australia.
“It is certainly a great honor. I did not expect at all that I deserved such a privilege,” Dr. Kuroda said of the award. “It is no question the honor depends on my mentors’, teachers’, all my friends’ and all my students’ warm support. I would like to express my sincere thanks to all of them.”
Dr. Kuroda graduated from the Tokyo Medical & Dental University in 1961. He subsequently received his orthodontic education and PhD from the Tokyo Medical & Dental University. After completing his PhD in 1966, Dr. Kuroda served as a research fellow at the Royal Dental College in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 1966 to 1967, and at the Center for Human Growth and Development at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, from 1969 to 1970. From 1981 to 1999, he served as professor and chair of the Second Department of Orthodontics in the Faculty of Dentistry at the Tokyo Medical & Dental University. From 1999 to 2002, he served as professor and chair of the Department of Maxillofacial Reconstruction at the university. In 2002, he was named professor emeritus.
Dr. Takayuki Kuroda received The Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon, from the Japanese government on May 12, 2016, at the National Theater in Tokyo, Japan. Hirokazu Matsuno, minister of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, presented the certificates of merit and medals to the award recipients. Following the ceremony, Emperor Akihito welcomed and thanked the award recipients at the Imperial Palace. Dr. Kuroda is pictured here with his wife, Kimiko Kuroda, on the day of the ceremony.