Tadao Hara

Dr. Tadao Hara was born in 1926 in Shimonoseki, Japan. In the waning days of World War II, at the age of 17, he joined the Imperial Navy Air Service where he was among an elite cadre selected to train to become Kamikaze pilots. When the war ended without the chance to give his life for his country, he questioned the purpose of his existence. He went through a very dark period and he would say “through the grace of God,” he embraced Christianity.

Dr. Hara received his BA in English Literature from Tamagawa University in Tokyo, attended seminary at Central Bible College in Tokyo, received an MA in Theology from Northwest University in Kirkland, WA, an MA in Education from California State University, Long Beach and completed his post-graduate course work in Zen Psychology at Komazawa University in Tokyo. He was conferred the honorary degrees of Doctor of Letters by Northwest University in 1990 and Doctor of Humanities from Newport Asia Pacific University in 2001. He served on the CSULB College of Education Advisory Board and was named Distinguished Alumni of the College of Education at CSULB in 1994.

He enjoyed a long career as an educator, counselor and minister. He pastored churches, worked as a counselor for foreign students at the CSULB Counseling Center, was a lecturer, professor, then Chair of the Department of Education and later Dean of Students at Tamagawa University before he retired from the University in 1978. But his life’s work was to promote a peaceful and equitable world by teaching young people the skills to bridge cultures and communicate effectively with people of diverse backgrounds and to teach others to do the same. In 1979, he founded the International Bilingual School of Los Angeles for Japanese ex-patriate children in grades K-9. He impacted the lives of thousands of young people in his 35 years as an educator at Tamagawa University and the International Bilingual School.

The College of Education (CED) expresses gratitude to all scholarship donors who continue to enhance the quality of education students experience at CSULB.