Osaka City University celebrated its 140th anniversary in 2020. At the time of its establishment, the mayor of Osaka, Hajime Seki, gave us a special mission: “This new university should not be an imitation of national universities; it should serve the needs of its citizens; conduct original research on the culture, economy, and society of the city of Osaka and communicate the results to the people of the city.” We honor his vision to this day. The words of Hajime Seki gave our university a free spirit , producing many great alumni. Among them are Distinguished Professor Yoichiro Nambu, who established the department of theoretical physics at our university and won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2008 for the discovery of the theory of spontaneous broken symmetry, which is the basis for elementary particle physics. He was followed by Dr. Shinya Yamanaka, former Director of the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application, Kyoto University, who earned his PhD from Osaka City University, and won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2012 for his research on iPS cells (induced pluripotent stem cells). In the business world, many founders of major companies and representatives of publicly-traded companies, as well as internationally active alumni, have graduated from our university. What does society need? Talented people who can clearly indicate what they can do, what they will study and through this, understand what they will pursue at the university. The significance of enrolling in a university is to find and decide your purpose in life. An education at our university achieves this. Nothing would make me happier than for everyone who studies at this university to enjoy meaningful communication with good teachers and friends as they get a running start towards the goals in life they discover here - all in this liberal academic environment cultivated by our traditions. I often ask undergraduate and graduate students alike where they see themselves in 20 or 30 years. We take pride in being a university where our students make firm goals for the future, and work to turn themselves into the people they want to be. It gives us great pleasure to welcome many more young people to come study with us.

Masahiro Tatsumisago
President of Osaka City University