The East-West Foundation was founded in 1974 by Oglethorpe University professor Dr. Ken Nishimura to promote religious and cultural heritage and, in particular, to encourage the study and application of Eastern ethics to social justice issues in the West.
For many years, the East-West Foundation has supported the Dr. Ken Nishimura ’14 (H) Endowed Fund, which supports student exchange programs from Oglethorpe to Japan and vice versa.
The East-West Foundation made an additional contribution of $50,000 to the Dr. Ken Nishimura ’14 (H) Endowed Fund to establish the Dr. Ken Nishimura Scholarship for Global Education. Nishimura, who was awarded an honorary doctorate from Oglethorpe in 2014, passed away in 2021.
The gift cements Nishimura’s legacy of benefiting Oglethorpe’s students, faculty and staff and enhancing cultural exchange between the United States and Japan. It honors Nishimura’s 36 years of service at Oglethorpe, where his career included senior professor and University Chaplain.
“Dr. Nishimura made an indelible mark on Oglethorpe University, and I was pleased the foundation’s board saw fit to make such a tremendous impact with this major gift,” said Dr. Bill Shropshire, East-West Foundation board member, emeritus Callaway Professor of Economics, former interim provost and former Oglethorpe trustee. “Ken was such an important part of the Oglethorpe community, and this gift will ensure a key part of his life’s work continues on.”
The Dr. Ken Nishimura ’14 (H) Endowed Fund was originally established with generous gifts from the East-West Foundation in 2020. The endowed fund became fully vested in 2022 thanks to East-West’s ongoing support.
Nishimura inspired further cultural exchanges in the work of his colleague Dr. Ronald L. Carlisle, overseeing Oglethorpe’s course content on Japanese language and culture. He helped to establish Oglethorpe’s exchange program with Otaru University and helped to cultivate a relationship with the Kyoto monastery to bring artwork and visitors to the Oglethorpe University Museum of Art.
The late Dr. Robert Steen, professor of Japanese Language and Culture, began his tenure at Oglethorpe University in 1995 just as Nishimura was nearing retirement. Steen was instrumental in building upon Nishimura’s legacy as he worked to expand relationships with students and partners to promote learning Japanese language and culture.
Steen, like his earlier colleague, Carlisle, worked tirelessly to utilize the highly notable collections of Japanese art at Oglethorpe University Museum of Art to inspire students, faculty and community members throughout Atlanta. These collections of early Japanese sculpture, porcelain, paintings and works on paper have continued to serve as the catalyst for undergraduate research initiatives. These collections also enable our students to gain a greater understanding of Japanese culture which ignites students’ aspirations to study abroad in Japan.
The Nishimura endowed fund has supported 15 students in studying Japanese culture, either through traditional study abroad scholarships or through the Japan Virtual Seminar. Given that the Japan Virtual Seminar is frequently offered with new content and on different topics, four students have benefited from taking the seminar twice.
The Japan Virtual Seminar began in 2021 as a pilot program of Freedom University, which piloted a virtual seminar focused on Japan to 14 of their students, with four students enrolling at Oglethorpe in Fall Semester 2021.
“We are grateful for Dr. Nishimura’s life of service to Oglethorpe and our students,” said Dr. Kathryn McClymond, Oglethorpe president. “We are especially grateful that the East-West Foundation invested once again in our students by ensuring meaningful cultural exchange would continue into the future, expanding the conn
