Tohoku University

Subsequent to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the university was declared closed until further notice, but with a tentative re-opening date of the end of the following April.[7]

The Aobayama, Katahira, Amamiya, and Kawauchi campuses are all at least 12 kilometers (7.5 mi) from the ocean, towards the mountains, and therefore suffered no damage resulting from the tsunami. No deaths or serious injuries within the faculty and student body were reported on campus grounds. However, earthquake damage lead to the closure of 27 buildings and caused millions of dollars of damage to equipment. Classes have resumed normally since early May 2011 and plans for restoring, reinforcing or replacing damaged buildings are underway.

The radiology department has been actively measuring radiation levels throughout the city of Sendai since the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant meltdown, which is about 100 kilometers south. So far no alarming levels of radiation have been detected.

Tohoku university has been ranked 1st in the 2020 Times Higher Education Japan University Rankings.[33]

According to 2011 QS World University Rankings[34] the university rose to 70th having dropped out of the top 100 in 2010 to 102nd, and having been 97th in the 2009 THE-QS World University Rankings (in 2010 Times Higher Education World University Rankings and QS World University Rankings parted ways to produce separate rankings).

It was also ranked 49th worldwide according to the Global University Ranking in 2009.[35]

Tohoku is one of the top research institutions in Japan. According to Thomson Reuters, Tohoku is the 4th best research university in Japan.[17] Its research excellence is especially distinctive in Materials Science (1st in Japan, 3rd in the world), Physics (2nd in Japan, 10th in the world), Pharmacology & Toxicology (3rd in Japan, 64th in the world) and Chemistry (6th in Japan, 20th in the world).[36]

Weekly Diamond also reported that Tohoku has the 11th highest research standard in Japan in terms of research funding per researchers in COE Program.[37] In the same article, it's also ranked 9th in terms of the quality of education by GP funds per student.

In addition, Nikkei Shimbun　on 2004/2/16 surveyed about the research standards in Engineering studies based on Thomson Reuters, Grants in Aid for Scientific Research and questionnaires to heads of 93 leading Japanese Research Centers, and Tohoku was placed 3rd (research planning ability 9th//informative ability of research outcome 2nd/ability of business-academia collaboration 2nd) in this ranking.[38]

According to the Qs World university rankings　on 2012/9 surveyed about the general standards in Engineering&Technology field, Tohoku university was placed 56th (world), 5th(national).[39]

As Tohoku University has been emphasizing 'practical' research, Tohoku received the top place for its number of patents accepted (324) during 2009 among Japanese Universities.[40]

Tohoku Law School is one of the most famous Law schools in Japan, as it was ranked 9th in the passing rate of Japanese Bar Examination in 2010.[41]

Eduniversal ranked Tohoku Business school as 6th in the rankings of "Excellent Business Schools nationally strong and/or with continental links " in Japan.[42]

According to the Weekly Economist's 2010 rankings, graduates from Tohoku have the 21st best employment rate in 400 major companies in Japan.[43]

Mines ParisTech : Professional Ranking World Universities ranks Tohoku University as 13th in the world in 2011 in terms of the number of alumni listed among CEOs in the 500 largest worldwide companies.[3]

Tohoku is one of the most selective universities in Japan. Its entrance difficulty is usually considered as one of the top in Japan.[44][45]

Many world-class celebrities have attended or served at Tohoku University.

• 
  Koichi Tanaka (田中 耕一), chemist, 2002 Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner.
• 
  Akira Endo (遠藤 章), biochemist, known for the discovery of first statin.
• 
  Atsuto Suzuki (鈴木 厚人), physicist, 2016 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics winner.
• 
  Hideo Ohno (大野 英男), physicist, the 22nd president of Tohoku University.

• Nozoe Tetsuo (野副 鉄男), chemist, kwon for Hinokitiol.
• Tsutomu Ōhashi (大橋 力), artist and scientist, Doctor of Agriculture.
• Syun-Ichi Akasofu (赤祖父 俊一), geophysicst, the founding director of the International Arctic Research Center of UAF.
• Hiroshi Maeda (前田 浩), pharmacologist and chemist, known for discovery of EPR effect.
• Morio Kasai (葛西 森夫, 1922–2008), absurgeon who developed the Kasai procedure for biliary atresia.[46]
• Chen Wei-jao (陳維昭), a surgeon and president of National Taiwan University.
• Lo Tung-bin (羅銅壁), biochemist, pioneer in the research on proteins in Taiwan.
• Susumu Satomi (里見 進), a surgeon and president of Tohoku University.
• Ryuta Kawashima (川島 隆太), neuroscientist, currently resident professor, the supervisor of Nintendo DS gamesofts; "Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!" and "Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old is Your Brain?"
• Noriko Osumi (大隅 典子), neuroscientist, the Vice President of Tohoku University (2018–).
• Mahmoud Nili Ahmadabadi, president of University of Tehran.

• 
  Kotaro Honda (本多 光太郎), former president, 1932 Nobel Prize in Physics nominee.
• 
  Masataka Ogawa (小川 正孝), former president, known for the discovery of rhenium.
• 
  Hidetsugu Yagi (八木 秀次), electrical engineer, mentor of Yagi–Uda antenna.
• 
  Sumio Iijima (飯島 澄男), physicist, inventor of carbon nanotubes.
• 
  Masatoshi Shima (嶋 正利), inventor of CPU Intel 4004.

• Shintaro Uda (宇田 新太郎), an inventor of the Yagi-Uda antenna 1926, the ubiquitous television antenna.
• Jun-Ichi Nishizawa (西澤 潤一), the engineer known for inventing optical communication systems including optical fiber, laser diode and so forth, PIN diode and SIT/SITh.
• Fujio Masuoka (舛岡 富士雄), the developer of Flash Memory.
• Masayoshi Esashi (江刺 正喜), engineer, the global authority of Microelectromechanical systems.
• Toshitada Doi (土井 利忠), a pioneer in digital audio, originated Aibo the pet robot.
• Fumihiko Imamura (今村 文彦), civil engineer, the natural disaster expert for NHK after 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami[47]
• Masataka Nakazawa (中沢 正隆), pioneer of optical solitons in high-speed optical communication in fiber optic networks and rare earth-doped optical amplifiers (such as EDFA).

• 
  Lu Xun (魯迅), the greatest writer in modern China.
• 
  Reizan Ido (井土 霊山), a journalist, writer, poet, and involved in Freedom and People's Rights Movement.
• 
  Morio Kita (北 杜夫), novelist, 1960 Akutagawa Prize winner.

• 
  Shizuo Kakutani (角谷 静夫), mathematician, professor at Yale, known for Kakutani fixed-point theorem.
• 
  Ryōji Chūbachi (中鉢良治), a Japanese businessman, former vice chairman and president of Sony Corporation

• Nobuhiko Kawamoto (川本 信彦), CEO of Honda Motor until 1995.
• Hirofumi Uzawa (宇沢 弘文), an economist, the father of Theoretical Economics in Japan.
• Su Buqing (蘇歩青), a Chinese mathematician and former president of Fudan University.
• Chen Jiangong (陈建功), pioneer of modern Chinese mathematics.
• Yasumasa Kanada (金田 康正), a mathematician most known for his numerous world records over the past two decades for calculating digits of π.
• Shigeo Sasaki (佐々木 重夫), a professor emeritus and mathematician who introduced the Sasaki manifold

• 
  Shigeyoshi Matsumae (松前 重義), a Japanese politician, electrical engineer, and founder of Tokai University.
• 
  Yukio Edano (枝野 幸男), a Japanese politician and a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet.
• 
  Eisuke Mori (森 英介), a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party.
• 
  Masako Mori (森 まさこ), a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party.

• Masayuki Aoyama (青山 雅幸), Japanese politician in the House of Representatives.
• Mitsuru Sakurai (桜井 充), Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan.
• Kenya Akiba (秋葉 賢也), a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party.
• Akira Koike (小池 晃), a Japanese politician of Japanese Communist Party.
• Nori Sasaki (佐々木 紀), Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan.
• Yoshihisa Inoue (井上 義久), Japanese politician of the New Komeito Party.
• Emiko Okuyama (奥山 恵美子), Mayor of Sendai, 2009–2017.