SAN FRANCISCO — On Nov. 3, the government of Japan announced the recipients of its Fall 2012 Decorations. From the jurisdiction of the Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco, Peter Duus will be awarded the Order of the Rising Sun.
Duus, 78, is William H. Bonsall professor of Japanese history, emeritus, and former professor of the Department of History at Stanford University.
He earned his Ph.D. in history from Harvard University in 1965. After teaching at Washington University in St. Louis, Harvard, and Claremont Colleges, he transferred to Stanford in 1973. During 30 years of teaching and researching at the university, he was also actively involved as a member of the Association for Asian Studies in the U.S., serving as president in 2000, and the American Historical Association.
Through 40 years of teaching at the university level as a historian specializing in Japanese history, he has made a significant contribution to institutions of higher education and academic societies in the U.S. by promoting a better understanding of Japan. His books on the early modern history and modern history of Japan have become standard textbooks in U.S. universities. His masterpiece, “Abacus and Sword,” has received many awards and is highly esteemed in the U.S.
In 1991, he was also elected as a fellow of the exclusive American Academy of Arts and Sciences, to which only the most excellent scholars in the U.S. are admitted.
Through his deep commitment to both the American-Canadian Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies (IUC), which was founded in Japan by the leadership of Stanford, and to the Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies, he has contributed to the establishment of a research base for American students who aspire to engage in Japanese studies.
Through his core role in Teaching Japan in the Schools (TJS), one of the intercultural educational programs at Stanford, he has promoted a better understanding of Japan for American teachers. He also teaches Japanese history in the Reischauer Scholars Program, a remote-learning lecture program targeted toward exceptional high school students in the U.S.
Through his involvement in many educational programs, he is dedicated to teaching young American students in order to cultivate in them a good understanding about Japan.