With great sadness, the Reischauer Institute notes the passing of Akira Iriye, Charles Warren Professor of American History, Emeritus, on January 27, 2026.

Born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1934, Professor Iriye graduated from Seikei High School in 1953. He received a B.A. from Haverford College in 1957 and a Ph.D. in U.S. and East Asian History from Harvard in 1961. After serving as Instructor and Lecturer in History at Harvard following receipt of his Ph.D., he then taught at the University of California at Santa Cruz, the University of Rochester, and the University of Chicago, before accepting an appointment as Professor of History at Harvard in 1989. He became Charles Warren Professor of American History in 1991 and retired in 2005.

During his distinguished academic career, Professor Iriye served as president of the American Historical Association—the only Japanese citizen to do so—as well as president of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations. In 2005, he was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold and Silver Star. He was also the Faculty Director of the Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies from 1991 to 1995.

An announcement in The Asahi Shimbun can be read here: https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/16318150