Bradley M. Richardson was Professor Emeritus in Political Science, the founding Director of the OSU Institute for Japanese Studies, and a former Honorary Consul General of Japan for Ohio, who continually raised awareness of Japanese studies and U.S./Japan relations.
We seek to continue his legacy through various academic, educational and outreach programs made possible with this funding.
Education: Brad Richardson received his PhD from University of California at Berkeley, his MA from Columbia University and his AB from Harvard College. His languages included Japanese, Spanish, German, and French. At OSU, he taught Government and Politics of Japan, including comparative political behavior. He had over 20 publications, such as, “Political Parties in Japan,” and “Japan’s 1955 System and Beyond,” in Political Parties and Democracy, eds. L. Diamond and R. Gunther, John Hopkins University Press, 2002; and “Political Traditions and Political Change: The Significance of Postwar Japanese politics for Political science,” Annual Review of Political Science, (with D. Patterson) 4, 93-115, 2001.
Scholarly Pursuits: Brad Richardson was a leading scholar in Japanese politics as well as a notable academician, lecturer and author on Japanese culture, business and politics, and received the Ohio State University Distinguished Scholar Award in 1996.
Leadership on Campus: Brad Richardson was the Founding Director of the Institute for Japanese Studies (IJS) from its inception in 1985 until 2002. He also was the Director of the East Asian Studies Center (EASC) during 1977-1980 and 1999-2002.
Awards and Accomplishments
Order of the Rising Sun Award (2008): Brad Richardson was honored with the Order of the Rising Sun, the very prestigious national decoration that the Japanese government awards to individuals who have contributed greatly to the nation and the public in politics, business, culture and the arts. Brad Richardson was recognized for his outstanding accomplishments in Ohio State’s goals in international relations, education and exchange that relate to Japan to the U.S, Ohio and local communities.
Honorary Consul General of Japan for Ohio: Brad Richardson was Honorary Consul General of Japan for Ohio from 1999- 2004 to strengthen the U.S.–Japan relations, especially through Japan’s growing ties with the State of Ohio.
Japan-America Society of Central Ohio (JASCO): Bard Richardson was a founding member of the Executive Board of the Japan-America Society of Central Ohio (JASCO) in 1997 and served many roles on its board and programming committee through 2015.
Ohio-Saitama Sister State Relationship: Through the Ohio-Saitama Sister State relationship, he established the Ohio-Saitama Company Internship program in which 88 Ohio students from 13 universities and 29 students from Saitama universities participated during 1991-2014.